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access to a terminal. Now she just needed to figure out her first move. She had no idea where to start. Carrying her things with her in the backpack, she headed the hundred feet or so to the secure terminal. Bain was redirecting the repair bots to turn the terminal into a link computer but it was taking time.
    “Hi, Bain, you there?” she asked as she arrived at the terminal.
    “Yes, Sky, I am here and everything is secure,” the AI responded.
    “Good. Have any luck searching the mainframe and storage for info?”
    “No, unfortunately not. I have looked everywhere, but haven’t found anything that looks promising. Sorry, Sky.”
    “Don’t start that now. We are just at the beginning of our search. Can’t get down on ourselves yet. Keep it up and cross-reference new things as we find them.  I just wish I knew where to begin.” Sky pulled out the folding camp chair and sat down in front of the terminal. She rested her elbows on her knees and held her head in her hands.
    “Let’s start from the beginning. When Cole came here after escaping the Esii and got the ships, he had to have spent a few days here, right? Did you notice anything then?” she asked Bain.
    “As you know, Cole left strict orders about monitoring him in his room, but I have all of the rest of the footage from public places. Let me go through it real fast.” Sky waited as Bain watched the hours of footage. “Nothing on the public feeds. Wait, here this may be something.” The screen on the terminal lit up with an image of a hallway. The time stamp was two in the morning, and it was the feed from outside Cole’s room on the base. Sky didn’t see anything but she heard something.
    “It sounds like shouting and then banging around. Was there someone in there with him?”
    “No, I checked. He goes in by himself and comes out again alone the next morning. There are no other points of entry to the room.” The recorded feed disappears and Bain’s face fills the screen.
    Sky thought a moment before responding. “I spent my first night in his room when we arrived. I remember seeing a few dents in the wall. I never thought to ask him about it.” Sky grew quiet, and the AI took his queues from her. “So,” she began again, “it started here. He didn’t seem to have any problems while he was in space. I know he said he needed time to decompress, but I slept with him every night and he never got violent or had the kind of outbursts he has had here. That’s it then, something here has triggered it in him.
    “I saw as much when I connected with him in the hanger the other night,” Gavreal said from behind her.
    Sky screamed in horror as she spun around to face the Kin. Not even a full day in hiding and she was discovered. Unless, she could stop the Kin from reporting his discovery to Cole. Rolling over backwards in her chair, she crammed her hand into her backpack and came out fumbling with a small pistol. She brought it up to aim at the Kin but suddenly found herself motionless as he wrapped his arms around her and pinned them in close to her body. She hadn’t even seen him move.
    “No,” she shouted at him. “I have to save him, please let me go. Please.”
    “Sorry Sky,” Bain said. “I should have told you. He is here to help.”
    Sky was hysterical though, and his words didn’t penetrate her fear and disappointment. Gavreal held her tight and whispered in her ear. Finally he got through to her and sensing her body relaxing, he released his grip and removed the pistol from her hands.
    “I am sorry to have surprised you, Sky. Truly, I am sorry. I would have thought Bain would have mentioned me before now.” He helped the Nixa to her feet and returned her chair to its upright position. Sky flopped into it and held open the backpack for Gavreal to deposit the pistol. Cinching the now full backpack, she leaned it against the terminal within easy reach.
    “Now, what were you saying?” she asked.
    “I was agreeing with you. Something