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were so many unknowns.
    “I don’t know a damn thing about Red-Lines, Leroy.”
    “Neither do I, but if that’s what she is, then we have a lot to talk about. We need to make some arrangements.” He paused. “But you need to be sure.”
    “To be sure?”
    “That you want to do this. You still have a way out, especially after your altercation with Morgana this afternoon. And I know you. If you commit to this, you’ll be there till the end, wherever it leads. You ready for that?”
    Ramsey nodded his head in acknowledgement, already knowing his answer. “Regardless of whatever the Council’s got up their sleeve, there’s still the issue of Sarah, who’s about to walk into a much bigger mess than I am, if you’re right. And for some reason, I already feel obligated to her. So yes, I’m in.”
    “Then let’s get started.” And without tracking the time, they began the long conversation, comparing what they each knew about Sarah, the Council, Red-Lines, the Mirror, and what steps to take next. Ramsey’s usual style of flying by the seat of pants would not work in this case. If he ever needed a plan, it was right now.

CHAPTER FIVE

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    THE NEXT MORNING, Sarah sat at the kitchen table in her apartment, looking out the window. A gentle rain fell against the pane, making soft splatters against the glass. It was gray outside, with rain forecasted for the rest of the day. She wasn’t focused on anything in particular, even though her computer was open in front of her. It showed only a blank page, with the cursor blinking its typical monotonous rhythmic pulse. A moment later, the page winked out and a screen saver of space scenes took its place. The earth, as pictured from the moon, came into view on the screen.
    She paid no attention. She’d sat this way for the last hour as her mind wandered. She would occasionally start typing, but then delete what she wrote. Her lethargy plagued her. She was normally a focused person, had her schedule planned, stayed on task, met her deadlines, never wavered from a job until it was completed. But these last few months, she’d found herself procrastinating, putting her work off till later. She would daydream, often finding that several minutes would go by without realizing it. Her lack of sleep worried her. She’d had a bad dream last night and hadn’t slept since. That, combined with the fact that he hadn’t showed yesterday, hadn’t come to see her at the bookstore as he said he would, had tipped her scales in a bad direction. She’d called in sick. She knew Arnie would be displeased and that Rachel would worry, but she didn’t care. She hated to admit it, but he’d gotten to her, and she had been hoping to see him.
    She sighed and looked back at her computer. She thought she would write Aunt Gerry in hopes of getting her mind off things. She didn’t want to call, because she knew Gerry would ask too many questions that she did not want to answer. She resisted actually bringing her fingers to the keyboard, though, and eventually closed the computer in frustration. She was tired. Her eyes hurt. She was depressed. She wanted to go back to bed, but she knew that was pointless. Even though she still sat in her robe, had not showered, and her nutritional intake for the day had been only two cups of coffee, she would not throw in the towel. She had to accomplish something before she got up from the chair. She took a deep breath, opened the computer, and started typing again.
    “Dear Aunt Gerry, I wanted to write and say, ‘Hi.’ Things here are…” She paused for a moment, thinking, and took her fingers off the keyboard. Her eyes wandered back to the window, back to the rain’s pitter-patter on the glass. She rested her chin in her palm. Her eyes stared off and her mind drifted, back to the quiet space she had left just moments before.
    The phone rang. The noise startled her, and she jumped. Looking back at her computer, she saw pictures of stars and supernovas