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“Mere…” Six protested and Mei-Li bit back a grin—she could practically see him rolling his eyes.

  “He’s still a big baby. How come you’re letting him drive the ship, huh Pere?”

  A younger girl bounced up—she looked to be about nine or ten to Mei-Li. She had the father’s coloring—lighter hair and green eyes—and she was staring at her brother as he guided the ship into the space dock.

  “Shut it, Kaylee—I have to concentrate,” younger Six said, but without rancor. It was clear he didn’t really mind his little sister.

  So that’s Kaylee. Mei-Li stared at the little girl. I wonder what happened to her? What happened to all of them? Her musings were interrupted by Six’s father speaking.

  “When we get to the station, we’re going to split up,” he was saying. “Your Mere and I are going to go shopping. You two are going to be on your own for a little while.”

  “Really—out on our own?” Kaylee’s green eyes lit up with excitement and Mei-Li reflected that she really was a pretty little girl. In fact, the whole family had gorgeous, big eyes and high cheekbones, making it easy to see where Six got his looks from.

  “Out on your own within reason,” the mother put in hastily. “Kaylee, you’re to mind your big brother and stay close to him every minute. Jax is in charge.”

  Jax. Hmm… Mei-Li frowned. Well, I knew he wasn’t always Six. But I never thought to ask what his name was before he became a number.

  “Aww, really?” Kaylee whined. “Jax is in charge? Why come?”

  “Because he’s a grown male now—he’s responsible enough and he’ll take good care of you,” the mother said firmly.

  “This is a big responsibility, son,” his father said to Jax—or rather, the younger Six. “But I know you can handle it.”

  “Don’t worry, Pere,” the boy said confidently. “I know the Kindred way—protect females at any cost. Even if they are spoiled brats.”

  In the mirrored surface of the navriscope, Mei-Li saw him make a face at Kaylee who made one right back but it was clear they were just teasing. If Mei-Li had to guess, she would have thought that these two were closer than most siblings. They would have to be if their parents were living a nomadic kind of life—they would have no other playmates.

  “Remember, Jax, look but don’t touch,” their mother said. “And that goes for you too, Kaylee. If you see something you want, wait until we meet up again and your Pere or I can look it over. This quadrant is generally safe but you can never be completely sure about anything until you scan it for pathogens. You don’t want to bring something harmful on board.”

  “Got it, Mere. Look but don’t touch,” Kaylee sighed.

  “Docking complete,” the younger Six announced.

  “And accomplished without a scratch to the ship.” His father sounded proud. “Look at that—he’s a natural born pilot, just like his Pere.”

  “All grown up.” His mother sighed and ruffled his hair affectionately. “So big and responsible—”

  “What…in the Seven Hells…do you think you’re doing?”

  The low, growling voice came from just behind her. Mei-Li, who had been fully immersed in the scene playing out on the screen in front of her, gasped and jumped in the metal harness of the nature emulator.

  “Oh, I—” she began, turning her head to see Six.

  “Kaylee. Freeze scene,” he barked at the screen which immediately froze. “Clear. Blank,” he continued in that same, growling voice. At once the scene disappeared and the screen went blank.

  By this time, Mei-Li had somehow managed to extract herself from the harness of the emulator. But one look at his face made her wish she hadn’t left the protective metal cage—Six’s expression was terrible to behold. He might claim to have no emotions but to Mei-Li, his face showed complete and all encompassing rage. His nostrils were flared, his gray eye was narrowed, and she could see a muscle twitching in the side of his clenched jaw.

  “Um, Six?” she said uncertainly, backing away from him.

  “How dare you?” His voice was quiet now—as cold as ice. “I told you that I locked away my memories for a reason. How dare you view them?”

  “I didn’t mean to, honestly!” Mei-Li took another step back.

  She was reminded of a fairy tale her adopted mother had read to her when she was young—one that had given her nightmares for weeks. It was the story of Bluebeard—a rich and handsome man who marries a pretty girl and tells her she can have the run of the house except for one little room in the back. Of course the girl gets bored and goes snooping in the forbidden room—only to find the severed heads of all of Bluebeards previous wives sitting on pedestals with blood dripping from their ragged necks and horrifying expressions of pain on their faces. The girl turns to run and finds herself faced with her new husband. As Bluebeard advances on her, he draws his sword and tells her that she shouldn’t have snooped…that there is an empty pedestal waiting for her head too and she is about to die…

  Mei-Li was pretty sure that the story had a happy ending—the girl gets rescued by her brothers at the last minute or something like that. But the fact that she escaped had been completely overshadowed by the awful picture in the book of the severed, bloody heads and the murderous look on Bluebeard’s face. She didn’t think Six would really hurt her but he looked just like that—so fierce and angry. It was frightening.

  “You should not have done it.” The big Kindred’s huge hands were clenched into fists at his sides. “I have avoided looking at these memories for years. You should not have viewed them.”

  “I didn’t mean to—they started up on their own,” Mei-Li said.

  “They could not have unless you had the master password.”

  “Which she insisted on having, Six,” Ter’s voice suddenly interjected from the speaker. “I was forced to give it to her since your instructions were to give her access to all systems and directives.”

  “You asked for the master password to view my memories?” Six demanded. “You only needed the general emulator password—why did you want the master word?”

  “No, honestly—I didn’t know there were two passwords. Ter just told me that ‘Kaylee’ was the password. He didn’t say anything about it being the master word.” Mei-Li put a hand up and stepped back again. That damn AI had screwed her but she didn’t know how to prove it and she was afraid if she tried, it would only make her sound crazy and get Six more upset.

  “You should not have done it.” He was still clenching his fists. “There are some privacies that ought not to be violated.”

  “I know that and you’re right,” Mei-Li tried to make her voice soothing. “I should have turned it off and stopped watching at once—there’s no excuse for not doing that. But, Six…” she continued, hoping to calm him down. “If it makes you feel any better, I didn’t see anything weird or embarrassing. It was just a really nice family scene with your mom and dad and your little sister. That’s all.”

  “That is enough,” he said shortly. “It is the last ‘nice family scene’ as you put it, that I ever experienced. After that…”

  Mei-Li waited but he never finished.

  “After that, what?” she urged gently. “You can tell me if you want to talk.”

  “But I don’t wish to talk. Or think. Or remember. I don’t wish any of those things but you have forced them on me.”

  His gaze was glacial now and the rage was gone from his face to be replaced by a remote anger as cold and bottomless as the depths of the alien ocean she had explored in the emulator.

  “Please, Six, I’m sorry,” Mei-Li whispered. “I…I didn’t mean to cause you pain.”

  “If you mean emotional pain, your fears are unjustified.” He spoke coldly now, like a robot. “I am perfectly well as I do not have emotions to upset.”

  “I don’t think I believe that anymore,” Mei-Li said quietly. “I think you’re very angry with me and I don’t blame you—not a bit. And I think that you’re hurt that I violated your privacy and I