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  Sylvan shook his head. “I am sorry, Six but I don’t see how the High Council would feel that way. We know the history of the Dark Kindred—we’ve seen what you do to the planets you conquer. Though we are at war with Earth, we do not wish the inhabitants ill. And if your people were allowed to eradicate all emotion on the planet, it would become next to impossible for any of our warriors to form soul bonds with the Earth females.”

  “That is exactly the problem we have here. Yes we have, yes we have,” Yipper interrupted. “Mei-Li was injected with a new emotion blocking serum I have been working on. We need your help to reverse its effects.”

  “I will be happy to help if I can,” Sylvan said. “But though I am a trained physician, I have never had much experience with such things. How does it work?”

  “It bonds more or less permanently with the emotion receptors in the brain and blocks them off. Yes it does, yes it does.” Yipper didn’t look happy about it, not that the word “happy” really meant much to Mei-Li anymore. “It makes the subject completely unable to experience emotion ever again.”

  “I hate to say it but if it works as well as you say, there doesn’t seem to be much hope,” Sylvan said. “What do you want me to do?”

  “I am hoping to show Mei-Li something that will somehow break through the blockage in her brain. Yes I am, yes I am,” Yipper said quickly. “She was only injected a few hours before. It’s possible the block hasn’t completely formed yet.”

  “And if there’s any hope to break through it, it has to be now,” Six finished for him.

  “What kinds of things do you wish to show her?”

  “Those who are dear to her—loved ones, cherished friends. Anyone from her past that she has strong emotional ties to,” Yipper said.

  Sylvan sighed. “Again what you’re asking is extremely difficult because of the war. All of Mei-Li’s people are down on Earth and there’s no way we can bring them up here.”

  “What about communication over a viewscreen?” Six asked. “I know she has a father—she spoke about him. Also a good friend called Claudia. Can they be contacted?”

  Commander Sylvan looked thoughtful.

  “It’s possible. Mei-Li’s father is on the World Council—he might be willing to speak to us if we told him his daughter is back. And I’m sure he would have the political clout to get her friend to speak to her as well. Let me see what I can do.”

  “Thank you, Commander. And please—hurry.” Six spoke so urgently that Sylvan raised one eyebrow.

  “Forgive me for saying so, but I thought your kind was without emotion. Yet you seem very concerned with Mei-Li’s emotionless state. I would think that she would be the perfect match for you now.”

  “She would be if I was still in an emotionless state myself,” Six said. “But I began to feel for her almost from the moment I saw her in the first dream we shared. I know that now. Or at least, I can finally admit it. The longer I was with her, the more I felt. And now she is everything to me. Everything.”

  Sylvan nodded. “Spoken like a true Kindred. Of course I will do everything in my power to help you.”

  “Thank you Commander.” Six nodded briefly. He took Mei-Li’s hand in his and looked into her eyes.

  She looked back blankly.

  “Please,” Six said again. “Hurry.”

  * * * * *

  Six supposed it was too much to hope that seeing her friends and family from the past would bring Mei-Li back to him. And yet he did hope, for it was the only hope he had—the only slim sliver of light at the end of a very long and dark tunnel.

  Gods, his emotions kept getting stronger and harder to deal with! He hadn’t wanted them to stop when he was falling in love with Mei-Li. Now he wished he could turn them off for a little while, at least until this crisis was over. If it ever was over. But that was not an option. He could either feel everything or nothing and right now, feeling everything was overwhelming.

  He watched anxiously as the huge viewscreen they had mounted across from her bed in the med station flickered to life. On it was an older Earth male who was almost Kindred size with distinguished looking gray hair. This must be Mei-Li’s father. She looked nothing like him, of course, but that was not surprising as she was not really his biological daughter.

  When he saw her lying quiet and still in the bed, the older male’s eyes widened.

  “Mei-Li? Punkin', is that you? Are you really back safe?”

  “I am back.” Mei-Li’s voice was flat and emotionless.

  “Sweetie, are you okay?”

  “I am physically well,” was the cold reply.

  “Physically well? What does that mean? And why are you talking like that?” her father demanded. “Like…like some kind of a robot?”

  Six cleared his throat. “Unfortunately, Mei-Li has been injected with a serum that blocks emotions. We were hoping that seeing you would help her to break through the block and recover her feelings.”

  “What? You did what to my little girl, you bastard?” The older male’s eyes narrowed and he glared at Six. “You’re the one who took her, aren’t you? You’re the sonofabitch who kidnapped my Mei-Li in the first place.”

  “Well, technically Six was within his right to claim Mei-Li and take her for a Claiming Period,” Commander Sylvan said, as diplomatically as he could. “But—”

  “But nothing, Commander Sylvan. You see, this kind of thing is why we declared war on you alien bastards! You steal our daughters and then you hurt them!”

  “Senator, please—Mei-Li has not been physically harmed and we are doing everything in our power to restore her emotions,” Sylvan said.

  “I want her returned to me now. I don’t trust you bastards one bit!” Mei-Li’s father roared.

  “I am afraid that will be impossible. Yes it will, yes it will.” Yipper, who had been standing out of view of the viewscreen came forward. “Mei-Li’s condition is very delicate right now and we have a limited window in which to reverse the effects of the serum. We need to keep working on her here in the Mother Ship.”

  “What the hell are you?” the Senator snarled. “Are you the one who did this to my daughter you hairy little freak? Answer me!”

  “Senator Hastings, please…” Six rose and approached the viewscreen. “Yipper is a Tolleg—one of the finest natural surgeons you will find anywhere in the universe. And he is not responsible for your daughter’s condition—I am. I was unable to save her from this fate. If you must blame someone, blame me—not Yipper or the Kindred of the Mother Ship.”

  “You’d better believe I blame you,” Senator Hastings roared. “I’ll have you skinned alive the minute I get my hands on you, you big bastard. Hell, I’ll do it myself and the Geneva Convention be damned!”

  “Senator, please,” Sylvan said. “This isn’t helping! I called you for two reasons—one of them was to have you speak to Mei-Li and try to evoke an emotional response from her.”

  “Well that obviously isn’t happening. Look at the way she’s looking at me…” The Senator gestured and there was a catch in his voice. “She…she’s broken inside somehow. Look what you’ve done to her…to my sweet, beautiful little girl…”

  “The second reason,” Sylvan went on doggedly. “Is to warn you. According to Six, here, there is a large battalion of ships coming from Zeaga 4, the Dark Kindred home world. They have Earth in their sights and—”

  “So you decided to bring in reinforcements, did you?” Senator Hastings snarled. “Didn’t think you could handle us on your own, did you? Well that’s all right—no matter how many you bring the people of Earth will fight! You—”

  Sylvan sighed and shook his head. “I’m afraid this is doing no good,” he said in an undertone to Six. “Perhaps we should try Mei-Li’s best friend—she is waiting on another channel.”

  “Perhaps.” Six nodded with a heavy heart. He had been hoping so desperately that something Mei-Li’s father said would get through to her. But for all the older male’s shouting and emotion