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of a mask I’d seen in a partially destroyed museum years ago. I think they said it was a type of gas mask or something that miners used to wear. I was grateful for Ashton and his brilliance in inventing the suit. It needed to be tight-fitting in order to allow me freedom of movement. I just had to get my mind to stop being afraid of it and I’d be good to go.
    “I’ll be fine. We should get going. Any idea where we landed?”
    “You’re just outside the marketplace. Morgan, you still wearing your earpiece?” Ash asked.
    “Yeah, we can hear you.”
    “You’ve got about half a mile’s walk and you’ll be inside the main part of the market. Our communications can’t get through there. I’m not sure why. It must be some security feature the new leader has in place.”
    Something occurred to me then. “Maybe that’s why D hasn’t contacted us. Maybe he is inside the city.”
    “He’s not supposed to be. The toll had to be paid at the guard station. That’s right outside the city gates and where our communication ends.” His voice was much softer when he spoke again and I wondered if Ash knew that Morgan was still listening. “Vivian? Please, be careful.”
    I was just about to answer when Morgan interrupted. “She’s immortal, remember? She’ll be fine. Besides, she’s got me.”

Chapter Four
     
    The guard station loomed into view ahead of us, a dark stain on an otherwise beautiful landscape. Tarnak was the opposite of Ti’al. Where Ti’al was desert and endless storms, Tarnak was an oasis. Lush greenery, non-toxic waterfalls and thousands of plants that had yet to be categorized. One half of the planet was used for open intergalactic trade. The other half was a popular vacation spot. People traveled from light-years away just to spend a week on Tarnak. And here we were, trying to avoid it.
    “So, what’s the deal with Ash?” Morgan asked.
    It was obvious he had been stewing over our last communication, though I had no idea why. Ash hadn’t said or done anything wrong.
    “What are you talking about? He gave us our location and told us where to go.”
    Morgan double-checked the device on his wrist to make sure we were no longer tuned into Harsh Reality’s frequency.
    “What was all that ‘be careful’ crap?”
    I stopped and looked at him. I had been looking at him more closely for weeks now, but I somehow failed to see one very important thing.
    “You’re jealous.” This realization shocked me more than you might think.
    Morgan didn’t even bother denying it. He simply turned around and kept moving toward the guard station. I hurried to catch up.
    “He just cares what happens to me, that’s all. We’re close.”
    He snorted. “You notice he didn’t tell me to be careful.”
    I couldn’t help laughing. “You’re never careful. It wouldn’t have done any good.”
    “What are we going to say to the guards? We don’t have the currency for a toll and if we tell them we’ve come to get D, they’ll never let us inside.”
    It would appear he was going to ignore my last comment and let the matter about Ash drop.
    “I’ve got a plan.”
    This time it was Morgan who stopped and turned toward me. I decided to elaborate.
    “I’m going to tell them we’ve come to trade. You are my pleasure slave and I’d like to select a new one.”
    He looked too shocked to even laugh. “You’re trading me in?!”
    I laughed. “It was the best I could do on such short notice. Don’t worry, I won’t let them have you.” As I started walking again I gave his ass a hard slap. Damn, that felt good.
    One of the big cyborg guards on the top of the tower waved his arms at us.
    “No time for a new plan. They’ve spotted us.”
    Morgan didn’t seem very pleased by this news, but fell into step behind me just the same. As we approached, the guard exited the tower and walked out to meet us. He could have passed for an extremely good looking Barrakan. There was an eyepiece over his right eye that gave