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and swore.
    “So much for my macho image.”
    She grinned. “Partial y dislocated. Lie down and I’l move it back into place.” He did as she instructed.
    She bent his arm at the elbow and rotated it external y. Every inch sent pain streaking down his arm. He gasped. Sweat beaded on his forehead.
    She paused and asked, “Do you want something for the pain?”
    “No,” he ground out. “Just get it done.”
    She nodded and continued. When his arm reached a thirty-five-degree angle, he heard and felt a pop. He closed his eyes and went limp in relief. Though his arm stil ached, the excruciating pain stopped.
    Something cool moved down his arm from shoulder to elbow. With each pass, the ache lessened. He opened his eyes to see Shyanne running a smal silver-colored rod over his arm. The rod gave off a milky blue glow.
    “What’s that? What are you doing?” he asked.
    She didn’t answer, instead saying, “I don’t think there’s any muscle or ligament damage.” She leaned away from him. The rod’s glow faded. “How does your arm feel?”
    He sat up and tentatively flexed, surprised to find he had ful motion with little residual pain, no more than he’d have from a heavy workout. He rotated his arm.
    “What did you do? What is that thing?”
    “Something I picked up a few years ago. Handy. Repairs most muscle and ligament injuries without surgery.”
    “How does it work?”
    She shrugged. “I haven’t a clue. Got it from an alien whose spacecraft was disabled by a meteor. We rendered a bit of assistance and he gave it as payment, though we didn’t speak the same language. I thought it was a bar of metal, maybe platinum. Was going to sel it. It’s not. Can’t quite determine what type of metal it is, though, and discovered its use by accident.”
    “Can I see it?
    “Sure.” She tossed the rod to him. “Won’t do you any good, though. When it’s working, you can’t examine it. When it’s not, there’s nothing to see; it’s just a solid piece of some unknown metal.”
    She was right. He rol ed the wand around in his palms. Aside from being warm to the touch, it appeared to be nothing more than a solid rod, without any indication of seams or internal parts.
    “We’ve scanned it but there’s nothing inside.”
    “What species of alien did you get it from?”
    “Don’t know. Like I said, we couldn’t communicate wel . Not even my translator chip could decipher their language. Trying just gave me a raging headache. Silky had a long interaction with them, but she never let on if she learned much.”
    “Then they’re not from a C.O.I.L. world. And if your translator didn’t work…” He tossed the rod back. Realization washed over him. “You’ve been in the Beyond.”
    “Yes. Why shouldn’t I?”
    “Consortium law strictly regulates first contact with nonaffiliated worlds and species.”
    She threw back her head and laughed. “And I should care about C.O.I.L.’s stupid laws why? I’m already a criminal, and their stupid laws—”
    “Laws are what al ow mankind to live civilized lives.”
    “Granted, but some lawmakers are corrupt and unjust.” The sparkle in her eyes warned him this would be no easy battle. Greyson struggled to keep from continuing the dispute. Cooperation, not conflict, was his goal. Reengaging her disdain of al things C.O.I.L. wasn’t the best way to achieve success. And he couldn’t help but fear a debate with her would no longer be a sure win.
    “I think we’l have to agree to disagree about Consortium law,” he said. Trying to get things back on track, he asked, “When wil you and your crew decide on my offer?”
    Disappointment washed through Shy. She’d hoped to engage him in a war of words. When they were younger, his greater knowledge had al owed him to demolish her arguments against the Consortium, but now she could hold her own.
    So of course Greyson had ended the discussion. It figured.
    She crossed her arms over her chest, leaned back against the