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“Oh, that’s right,” Sophie said. “They just called and Sylvan is getting the cryo chamber ready. He has to use it to treat the plant they got on Rageron before he uses it to dissolve their bond.”
“They’re going to be calling in again right before they go through the rift. If you want to talk to Elise, we have to hurry and get to the viewing room,” Kat said. “So come on, let’s go.”
“Absolutely. But I need somebody to help me up.” Olivia put out both arms and Sophie and Kat hauled her to her feet.
“Whew,” Kat complained. “What am I going to do when all three of you are preggers? There’s only one of me, you know.”
“You’ll manage,” Liv said sweetly. “And just think, you’ll have all of us waiting on you when you have your babies.”
“You’ll be waiting a while for that,” Kat said grimly. “Come on, we have to hurry, so waddle as fast as you can.”
“You!” Liv smacked her lightly on the shoulder, laughing. “You’ll pay for that later.”
“I’m sure I will.” Kat gave her a wry grin. “Let’s go.”
* * * * *
Sylvan was waiting in the viewing room when they all crowded in to stand in front of the huge silvery viewscreen that covered one entire wall. “Hello, Talana,” he murmured, drawing Sophie to him and kissing her gently on the cheek.
“Sylvan.” She blushed with pleasure and leaned against him, loving the feel of his warmth against her side. “Have they entered the fold yet? Are we too late?”
“Not yet.” He pointed at the view screen and made a motion. Suddenly it showed a vast expanse of black space with a huge red gash in the middle of it—the fold or rift generated by the Mother Ship which allowed the Kindred to fold space instantly from one spot in the universe to another. Hovering just outside the crimson wound in the blackness was a tiny ship. “We should have contact with them in a minute or so,” Sylvan said. “Luckily they didn’t have to spend as long flying out as they did flying in.” He frowned. “It’s a good thing, since they took longer to collect the skrillix than we originally planned.”
“What will happen once you dissolve their bond?” Sophie asked, looking up at her husband uncertainly. “Will it ruin any connection they have between them?”
Sylvan looked unhappy. “I’m afraid it will. And since Merrick is a hybrid, they probably won’t be able to form a new bond.”
“But that’s terrible,” Sophie burst out. “How awful to lose that connection—it’s so important.” She couldn’t imagine not having her link to Sylvan—it would be devastating if that bond with him was suddenly gone.
“I know, Talana. I can’t imagine it either,” Sylvan murmured, answering her thoughts as well as her words. “But if we leave the bond the way it is, both of them will die. It’s improperly placed—dangerous to both Merrick and Elise. Besides…” He sighed and ran a hand through his short blond hair. “I think they had decided to go their separate ways after this is over. Elise does have a fiancé back on Earth, you know, and apparently her joining ceremony is coming up very soon.”
“That’s one ceremony I won’t be attending,” said Elise’s voice from the viewscreen.
Sophie’s head jerked up and she realized that Merrick and Elise had appeared on the vast screen. “Oh, I’m so sorry,” she exclaimed. “We didn’t mean to be talking about you—we were just worried.”
“Don’t have to worry about us,” Merrick growled, his mismatched eyes glowing. “We’re going to stay together—bond or no bond.”
“Are you?” Olivia looked up at them, her eyes shining. “I knew it. I had a feeling about you two.”
Merrick snorted. “Coulda fooled me.”
“Now, Merrick, I know we’ve had our differences, but I was just being protective of my patient.” Olivia smiled at him. “But I couldn’t be happier to hear you two have worked it out.”
Merrick and Elise exchanged a glance and Sophie could see the silent communication going on between them. Her heart ached at the thought that they were soon to lose that intimacy.
“We’re happy too,” Elise said, smiling. “And not just because of the bond.” She looked at Sylvan. “I don’t believe all the feelings I have for Merrick are fake—they’re real. I’ve never felt anything realer.”
“I believe you,” Sylvan said gravely. “It sounds to me like the two of you have forged a connection that supersedes the improper bond you share. I think you’ll be just fine, even without it.”
Elise blinked and Sophie thought her eyes looked suspiciously bright. “Thank you, Doctor,” she said to Sylvan, her voice thick with emotion. “It…it means a lot to me to hear you say that.”
“Just come back to the Mother Ship,” Sylvan told her gently. “We’ll take good care of the both of you.”
“On our way.” Merrick did something to the controls of the ship and then looked up. “About to enter the fold right now.” Then he frowned and looked at Elise. “Hey, do you smell something funny?”
She lifted her face and sniffed the air. “No, I…wait—does it smell kind of sweet?”
“Exactly—sickly sweet. But I can’t tell…” Merrick yawned hugely. “Tell where it’s coming from.”
“Me…either.” Elise yawned too, her eyelids drooping. “I’m so tired.”
“I’m tired…too.” Merrick frowned. “What’s going on?”
“Something’s wrong!” Sylvan pushed closer to the viewscreen. “Merrick, Elise—what’s wrong with you?”
“Don’t…know.” Merrick’s deep voice was dragging now and Elise had put her head down on her arms and was breathing deeply.
“Listen to me,” Sylvan yelled at them. “Merrick, turn the ship around. You can’t go through the fold like that. Something is going on.”
“Doing…my best…” Merrick’s eyelids were drooping and his motions were sluggish. “Trying…” And then he and Elise vanished to be replaced by the shot of the small spaceship hovering just outside the red gash in space.
“Merrick, no!” Sylvan shouted. But even as they watched, the small ship accelerated into the fold…and disappeared.
“This isn’t right.” Sylvan looked upset and Sophie could feel his worry through their bond. “What happened to them?”
“It almost looked like they’d been drugged,” Olivia said, frowning.
“Exactly.” Sylvan shook his head. “Listen, Olivia, you and I had better go get things ready. They’ll be coming out our side of the fold in just a moment and we’ll need a detox kit on standby just in case.”
“Got it.” Liv was already on the move and Sophie couldn’t help thinking her twin could still be surprisingly quick when she had to be, despite her advanced state of pregnancy. But before Liv could even get out the door, Kat spoke.
“Wait,” she said flatly.
“Wait for what?” Sylvan demanded. “They may be ill or injured when they get here.”
“If they get here at all,” Kat said.
“She’s right,” Lauren put in, pointing at the viewscreen. “Look, it’s showing our part of space now. There’s the moon and the Earth.”
“But where is the ship?” Sophie looked up at Sylvan. “Shouldn’t it be here by now? Isn’t the transfer from one part of space to the other supposed to be instantaneous?”
He frowned and she felt his anxiety surge again. “Yes…yes it is,” he said in a low voice.
“So where are they?” Kat asked. “Could they be, I don’t know, lost? Lost in the fold somehow?”
“I hope not,” Sylvan said grimly. “If they are—if they have somehow gotten trapped between the space around Rageron and the space around Earth…”
“What? If they’re trapped, then what?” Liv demanded.
Sylvan ran a hand through his hair. “They are most likely dead.”
Chapter Thirty-six
Elise woke up because a thousand tiny hands were tickling her. She snorted surprised laughter and sat straight up—or tried to anyway. Thick black straps were holding her dow