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  “Awww, that’s boring,” Kaylee whined. “I don’t want to look at that.”

  “Just give me a minute to ask the vendor the specs,” Six said patiently. “If they’re good and the price is right, I may want to bring Pere back here to see it later.”

  They were at the stall now and he had his eyes on the helmet as he talked.

  “Okay but can we have a hi-ni bread after you ask?” Kaylee’s eyes were wide as she stared at a steaming tray of small turquoise nuggets the old lady at the baked goods shop had just put on display. “Please? Just one?”

  “Only if Mere and Pere check it out first,” he answered distractedly. “Swear to the Goddess, Kaylee, just settle down for one minute so I can ask a few questions. Then we’ll go.”

  Kaylee whined something else but Six was already asking the man who ran the stall about the helmet. He was reeling off a list of technical sounding questions when Mei-Li saw the old lady at the bakery motion for Kaylee.

  “I heard you say you liked hi-ni breads, sweetie,” she said, smiling. “Would you like a sample? These are kind of hot but you won’t burn your fingers if you eat it fast.”

  She leaned forward, holding out a warm turquoise nuggets in one wrinkled hand and Mei-Li saw something strange. The old lady’s eyes were a soft, faded blue but the left one had a thin scarlet ring around the outside of the iris.

  Mei-Li frowned. The red ring reminded her of Six’s left eye—the one he’d kept covered with the scanner implant for so long. He had a scarlet ring around his iris too. Was there some significance? For some reason the sight made her shiver and a sensation of unease began to creep up from the pit of her stomach. It was an odd feeling, something she might once have called…dread? She wasn’t even sure, she just knew it was uncomfortable.

  Don’t, she thought as Kaylee reached for the baked confection that looked a little like a turquoise donut hole. Don’t do it—don’t touch it!

  Just as the little girl was about to pop the hot little bread into her mouth, Six turned and saw what she was doing.

  “Kaylee, no!” he grabbed her wrist and snatched the bread neatly from her hand. “I’m sorry,” he said, turning to give it back to the old lady. “But we’re not allowed to eat anything my parents haven’t screened first.”

  “That’s all right, sweetie.” The old lady accepted the small nugget of turquoise bread from him and Mei-Li noticed that his fingertips brushed her palm briefly as she did. “It’s better to be safe.”

  “But I wanted a hi-ni bread!” Kaylee looked on the verge of tears.

  “We’ll come back,” Six promised her. “I definitely want Pere to look at the helmet I found. Just be patient, Kaylee—we’ll come straight back here as soon as we meet up with Mere and Pere.”

  “That’s all right—listen to your brother and I’ll see you later,” the old lady said soothingly. She peered at Six. “Say, do your parents hail from Terga? You look so familiar somehow.”

  “My Mere’s family is from there,” Six said politely. “My father is Kindred. Do you have kinfolk there as well?”

  The old lady looked sad. “I used to, long ago. But that’s been years and years back. You’re too young to have heard of them. Then again, the Tergish are such wanderers…hardly ever on the home world.”

  “Every world is a home world to us,” Six said, smiling and the lady laughed, the wrinkles around her faded blue eyes crinkling.

  “My goodness—I haven’t heard that in years! But it’s still true,” she said nodding. “Every world is a home world.”

  Clearly it was some kind of saying their people had, Mei-Li thought.

  “Well, thank you for your kindness. We hope to see you again soon.” Six nodded at her and then looked at his little sister. “C’mon, Kaylee.”

  He took her hand in his—the same hand he’d used when he gave back the bread nugget, Mei-Li couldn’t help but notice—and pulled her away from the stalls. Then, when they were out of sight of the bakery, he produced the microbe light and ran it over both their hands.

  “There—that should take care of anything that was on the bread.”

  “There was nothing on it, Jax! She just took it out of the hot oven. Heat kills microbes, doesn’t it?”

  “You’re probably right.” He nodded. “But as Mere always says, better to be safe now than sorry later.”

  Kaylee sighed. “I guess. But she was such a nice lady! She was even from Mere’s home planet—she wouldn’t have given us anything to hurt us.”

  “I’m sure she wouldn’t but we gave our promise to Mere and Pere to be careful,” Six said firmly. “We’ll come back soon, I promise.”

  “Allll riiiight.” Kaylee gave another long suffering sigh. Six put away the microbe light and ruffled her hair.

  “C’mon. Still lots to see.” He took her hand in his and they began to walk.

  As she watched the little exchange, another twinge of unease ran through Mei-Li. She couldn’t help thinking that if she still had emotions, alarm bells would be going off inside her head like crazy. Something had happened just now—something irrevocable. She didn’t know what but she sensed it somehow. Just as she sensed that the measures Six had taken were too little, too late. However, he and his little sister seemed oblivious. They just kept walking through the station, talking about the various things they saw and pointing out food they wanted to try. Or rather, Kaylee pointed it out to Six—she seemed to never stop talking.

  Which was probably why, a half-hour later, her abrupt silence came as such a surprise. Six looked down at her.

  “Kaylee, I asked if you wanted to ask Mere and Pere to check out the mirna juice booth. Didn’t you hear me?”

  Kaylee just looked at him and shook her head.

  “No you don’t want mirna juice or no you didn’t hear me?” He took a closer look at her and an anxious look came over his face. “Kaylee? Are you all right? You’re awfully quiet all of a sudden.”

  His little sister just shook her head again but Mei-Li thought she was looking extremely pale. Somewhere deep inside her, the social worker who dealt with kids began to whisper that all was not well. Kaylee looked like a child who was about three seconds away from being violently ill. Not good, whispered that little voice that seemed to belong to another part of her life—a part she had all but forgotten. Oh, this is so not good…

  “C’mon, Kaylee,” Six murmured. Pulling his little sister gently by the hand, he led her into a smaller, less crowded corridor that forked off from the main walkway. Then he leaned down and took her by the shoulders. “Okay, now what’s going on?”

  Kaylee looked up at him, her face pale.

  “I don’t feel so good, Jax,” she whispered. Then she leaned over and threw up.

  “Kaylee! Oh my Goddess!” The young Six sounded panicked and Mei-Li could see why. His little sister had just puked what looked like half a gallon of blood all over the floor and both their boots.

  “Jax…” she moaned. “I don’t feel good. What’s wrong with me, Jax?”

  “I don’t know but we’re going to find out.” Heedless of the mess, Six scooped her up and practically ran with her, shoving his way through the crowded corridors. Though he was big for his age, he was still only a young teenager who hadn’t nearly gotten his full growth yet. But though his sister must have been a heavy burden, he didn’t let go of her until they got back to the berth where their ship was docked. There he had to set her back on her feet because he was gasping for breath. Kaylee promptly puked again and then collapsed. Somehow Six managed to pick her up once more.

  “Oh my Goddess, Kaylee,” he said in a low, trembling voice. “Goddess, please just hold on. Mere and Pere will be here soon, I swear they will!”

  “Hurts, Jax…” Blood was bubbling from her mouth and nostrils and her face was gray with pain. “Hurts so bad—like I’m on fire inside. Please…”

  Oh God, that poor little girl! whispered the voice in Mei-Li’s brain. It was still faint but it was somehow getting louder and