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slowly and stared up at her as if she were fighting the urge to fall to her knees and beg.
    “I’m … I’m sorry, Rhee. He’s not picking up,” she whispered.
    “He’s not dead!” Marian yelled at her. “We can’t fall apart just because he’s not here.”
    Dott looked at them as if she was stuck in a vid, unable to participate or affect change on the outcome. Tayden was only one step below the Supreme Leader, yet she was acting as if she were the grieving widow, while Marian was commanding her to get up off the ground and take command. Bizarre just did not cut it with what she was witnessing and it dawned on her that this was Marian at her most frightening.
    “Dott, please run a scan on our cloners to see if any new data has been processed,” the tall, dark woman commanded and then stepped forward, past Tayden, to pick up the comm.
    While Marian tried to reach her husband, Dott Toga scanned the systems for new data and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that there was none. If Rafian had died the systems would have been going crazy, rebuilding him and looking for what would be the leader’s life force to guide it back into a new body.
    “Nothing, Commander, he's alright. I know the Supreme Leader, he doesn't go down, and he doesn't falter, ever.”
    You didn't see him a few months ago when he was in my arms lying comatose , Marian thought, but Dott's words inspired her, and she knew that she was right. “Let's get a checkup going on our territory, and work on getting those stranded Phasers back home,” Marian said.
    Dott walked up and stood next to her at the console, and even though Marian’s fingers were typing rapidly, she placed her hand on her forearm. This contact was all it took to break Marian, and she turned and embraced the young woman tightly and bawled into her shoulder. Tayden saw this and got to her feet, but instead of joining them she walked outside and cast her eyes to the sky.
    Clenching her fists and standing defiantly, she reached into the nothingness of her mind and willed herself to connect with Rafian, an exercise she had only been able to do once before.
    “I hope you can hear me, Raf, it’s your ru —your rurit , your Tayden. I did a foolish thing trying to jump, and it would kill me if we lost you because of it. Please hear me, Raf. You’re my oldest Jumper brother and bunkmate. It isn’t time for you to leave yet.”
    She tightened her muscles and held her breath, but there was no feeling, no response, just the sound of laser fire in the background, along with a number of explosions. If Tayden had been herself and not a desperate woman tugging at straws to find her friend, she would have realized there was fighting going on within the city. The telltale noises were mild annoyances to her mental reaching, however, and she clenched her muscles even tighter and squeezed her eyes even more.
    “Damn it, Rafian! I was able to pull you back when we lost you before and I’ll be damned if I can’t pull you back again,” she said as she probed with her mind looking for a sign.
    When nothing came to Tayden Lark, she decided that it was time to get herself acclimated with the present tense. There were Geralos in the city, and the few Phaser recruits were fighting them with no help. She moved to run back inside to collect her las-sword but then Aurora hopped down from the top of the stairs and landed in front of her.
    “Everything okay, Tay? We saw the light, but you’re crying and I heard Marian shouting downstairs.”
    “We’re okay, Aury, but things are a mess. I’m crying because it’s all my fault, and Marian is yelling because she’s trying to make sure that everyone is okay.”
    Aurora hissed through her teeth and crossed her arms. “Look, I know that I come off as some sort of bubbly, innocent cheerleader for my brother, but I was a decorated intelligence officer of the Helysian . I can spot a lie a mile away, and I’ve sent hundreds of little bratty cadets to the