Synopsis: Adapting to the new reality of the post-emergence world is far from easy.

Disclaimer: This story is based on the television series 'The Tomorrow People', created by Roger Price and owned by Thames Television/Freemantle Media. It also features original characters and situations created by, and the intellectual property of, Jackie Clark and Elizabeth Stanway, October 2003.

The Kindred Spirits universe is dedicated to the late Philip Gilbert.

Betrayal of Trust is the penultimate story in the Kindred Spirits saga and the fifth of Catharsis - a sequence of stories set in the Kindred Spirits universe and exploring the after-effects of the Great Emergence on the lives of those who fought for it.

It is strongly recommended that you read these stories in the correct order:
Kindred Spirits - Two Aims, One Destination
Kindred Spirits - Double Bluff
Kindred Spirits - Slipping the Net
Kindred Spirits - Consumed by Fire
Kindred Spirits - The Stair
Kindred Spirits - Stara Majka
Kindred Spirits - ZD28-FV6
Kindred Spirits - Darkness and Lust
Kindred Spirits - Abandoned
Kindred Spirits - The Path Ahead
Kindred Spirits - Serpent's Tooth
Kindred Spirits - Grand Central Station
Kindred Spirits - Luna Yuletide
Kindred Spirits - Resolutions
Kindred Spirits - Catharsis - The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
Kindred Spirits - Catharsis - Level Sands
Kindred Spirits - Catharsis - Coming of Age
Kindred Spirits - Catharsis - Every Step You Take
Kindred Spirits - Catharsis - Betrayal of Trust

Previous stories can be found in the TPFICT archive or on our websites at http://www.oocities.org/tiylaya/KS/ or http://www.effdee.demon.co.uk/tp/Stories/stories.htm

Many thanks to both Jackie and Anyta for their advice and assistance. Comments would be welcome to tiylaya@yahoo.com

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Part One:

October 1st, 2024

The house was quiet, the silence near deafening. Abigail moved through it as if through a dream, aware of every surface and every air current like sensations across her skin.

It was over a year now since Abby, Marc and Thomas had moved out of the Lab and into their own home. After half a lifetime living in the constant presence of others' telepathy, Abby still found the mere concept of mental solitude strange. Restlessly, she prowled into the kitchen, almost as if she could escape the silence if she kept moving. Tonight of all nights, she missed the comfort that only other telepaths could provide. And yet this was the one day of the year when thinking of the Lab brought back evil memories rather than good.

Of course, even here she was never alone. Upstairs in their bed, Marc slept. His dreams were restless, flashes of nightmares reaching Abigail through their deep mental bond. In his own room, opposite theirs, Thomas too suffered troubled dreams, crying out softly in his sleep. The anniversary of the Lab raids was never an easy time for either of them, any more than it was for Abby. Too many dark memories lurked in the depths of their minds, ready to ambush them as they slept. Only Frances seemed immune to the memories that plagued her parents and brother. The infant slept soundly and peacefully, blissfully innocent of the wrongs of the world into which she had been born.

Abigail sighed, unable to keep a smile from her face as she thought of her small daughter. Frances had been born into a very different world from that of anyone of Abigail's generation, or even Thomas's. Her world was one that changed for the better, little by little, step by step, every day. Abby for one was determined to see that it kept changing. The process was slow, it would take time and there would be setbacks, but already progress had been made. Already, Abigail had to believe, they lived in a world where the night of horrors that had led to the abandonment of so many major labs, to so many deaths and to so many being imprisoned, could never occur again. Wasn't that what the upcoming ceremony was meant to be about?

She had argued against a celebration of this day, or a permanent memorial, for practical as well as selfish reasons. Surely it would be better to let the memories slide gracefully into the history books and into the past. Why give the activists on either side, TP and Sap both, a focal point on which to hang their grievances? They didn't seem to need any more justification for their anger and distrust.

Abby shook her head. She had done everything she could to carry the Tomorrow People with her, and still there were a few who resisted the overtures of reconciliation that the Saps had offered. They were a small minority, but a troubling one - even without a TP as senior as Jimmy involved. Eventually though, Abby had been persuaded to yield. There were too many people who knew the date on which so many Labs had been raided. The events of that night had been felt by Tomorrow People worldwide, and had marked not only the destruction of thousands of lives, but the opening of Luna itself - one of the few sparks of hope in that long night. The day just would not be forgotten, or set aside. There were too many people who hadn't had their loved ones returned to them, as Abby had. They needed some symbol of remembrance, a way to say goodbye.

Abby sighed and perched herself on one of the kitchen stools, trying to decide what to do next. If she didn't get at least a few hours rest tonight she'd not be in a fit state to do anything tomorrow, least of all endure a memorial service that would tax her even at the best of times. On the other hand, returning to Marc's side now would hardly induce restful sleep; her anxieties would worsen his nightmares, keeping her awake to grow more anxious still. Shaking her head, Abby glanced at the clock suspended on one wall. Its hands were indistinct in the light that filtered in from the street outside, casting dark shadows across its face. Nonetheless, she could just make out the time.

It was two in the morning, and Abigail knew from the anxiety rising within her that any thought of sleep was hopeless. She couldn't rest before she knew, emotionally as well as intellectually, that she and her family were safely past this poignant anniversary. Standing, she picked up the coffee jar and turned to cross the room, deciding that if sleep wasn't an option then she might as well make a mug of coffee and get on with some work.

And that was when an angry, unnatural sleep enveloped Abby, dragging her without warning into the black depths that awaited her.

*******

"Ma chère?" The room was still when Marc awoke, the absence of her soft breathing already telling him that his wife wasn't there. Light streamed through the gap between the bedroom curtains, casting long shadows across the room. A shaft of glorious sunshine lay across Marc's eyes, urging him to rise and face the new dawn. He shook his head - groggy with the residue of bad dreams - and lay back in the bed, trying to focus on the day ahead. His mouth tightened in a thin line. It would not be an easy one.

Glancing at the bedside clock, he blinked at the time displayed there. Almost eight o'clock? He had barely an hour before meeting Kershia and David for the Liaison committee. The three of them had gone very quiet when the date of today's meeting had been read out for confirmation. David had hesitantly suggested that perhaps the fortnightly meeting could be postponed, rescheduled to a less sensitive time. Marc just shook his head. Abby would be busy today, even before they met up for the remembrance ceremony. He needed to keep busy himself, not let the memories fester. No doubt Abby was downstairs already, going through the paperwork for her own meetings. Odd that she hadn't woken him though, and that she hadn't disturbed him when she rose herself.

With a sigh, Marc pushed himself into a sitting position, scrabbling for his dressing gown. There was a chill in the air this morning, autumn making itself felt on the streets of Toronto's leafy suburbs. Over the intercom he heard Frances stirring, his eight-month-old daughter whimpering softly to herself, fretting over some anxiety or other. Opening the adjoining door to the nursery, Marc slipped in and lifted the child out of her cot, surprised once again that Abby hadn't already done so. Frances's emergent telepathy washed over his own, her infant joy at seeing her father bringing a smile to his face even as she broadcast her impatient hunger. Carefully Marc reinforced his mental defences, still weak with the permanent legacy of his time in the camp. He slipped the baby into the crook of one arm with a practised movement, rocking her gently to calm her.

"Come on, honey," he told her quietly, tickling her under her chin with his other hand. "Let's go look in on Thomas, and then see what Mamma's up to, shall we?"

Thomas was tossing restlessly in his sleep when Marc opened the door to the teenager's room. His sheets coiled around him like snakes, twisted into tight knots by the torments of the night. Compassion and sympathy filled Marc, and he perched on one side of the bed, resettling Frances into a more comfortable position on his knee. He reached out, gently shaking Thomas's shoulder.

The young man met the new morning with a moment of horror in his blue eyes. The desolation there made him look younger than his sixteen years as his gaze settled on the man who had adopted him. "Marc, I..." His voice trailed off wordlessly. Marc squeezed his shoulder reassuringly, recognising the same fog of nightmares to which he had woken.

"I know, Thomas. It's all right now."

Thomas hesitated and then nodded, the movement abrupt. The trauma of what happened might never fade completely, but somehow when they faced it together, as a family, it seemed a little more manageable every year.

Marc sighed and reached out telekinetically to snare Thomas's dressing gown, tossing it at him with a casual gesture. Thomas put it on wordlessly, not needing telepathy to recognise that Marc wanted him downstairs, the four of them starting the day together.

"What time is it?" he asked blearily, rubbing his eyes as he clambered out of bed.

Marc shrugged. "Late enough that you'll be in trouble at college, and I'll be in trouble myself, if we don't get a move on. There's time for a coffee first though."

They descended the stairs as they talked, Marc quizzing Thomas on his day's courses in an effort to lighten the mood. It was a surprise to them both when Abby failed to call a greeting, and more surprising still that she wasn't in her office when Marc poked his head around the door.

Frowning, he waved for Thomas to lead the way to the kitchen, bouncing Frances absently on one arm to keep her happy. He saw Thomas freeze a moment before he felt the wave of shock the young man broadcast. Frances was crying, sensing the distress, by the time Marc pushed his way past Thomas and into the room.

The back door swung loose in the autumn breeze, the wood around the lock splintered, only the insulation around the frame preventing it from banging. One of the kitchen stools lay on its side on the floor, and next to it a jar of ground coffee had spread its contents in a graceful arc of scattered grains as it fell unheeded to the floor.

(Abby?) For the first time that morning Marc stretched out his awareness, feeling only emptiness in the house. Already he knew that he wouldn't find her. He reached out further, broadcasting as far and wide as he could unaided. (Abby!)

Perhaps she had left for work early? Perhaps she was in a meeting somewhere, shutting him out? His telepathy was weak now, since the Barlumin had robbed it of its strength. Perhaps she'd just fallen asleep somewhere, dreaming so deeply that she hadn't even heard his call?

The explanations tumbled through his thoughts as if he could deny what his rational mind was already telling him. Why would Abby leave without waking them, or leaving some kind of message? Where could she be that he wouldn't feel her presence, even in her sleep? What could have left this ruin of a domestic scene in his kitchen? A shattered lock, a broken jar - Abby would never have willingly left those untended with her daughter, her son and husband asleep and vulnerable upstairs.

(Abby!) he called again, putting all his strength into the thought. He staggered and Thomas caught him, taking Frances from his arms. Marc saw his own horror reflected in Thomas's eyes. They had thought those times were over; they had thought their home was inviolable.

But just as they had on this day five years before, the intruders had come in the night, as the world slept. Memories of the Lab raid flooded through Marc and into Thomas, until the younger man broke the mental contact. Once again a family had been torn apart. Their nearest and dearest had been stolen from them. The silence in their minds told its own story.

Abby had been kidnapped.

*******

(Kershia!)

The sheer panic in the call had Kershia focusing on Marc's mind, jaunting to his side before she was even consciously aware of her destination. It was unusual enough for Marc to reach for her across the ocean that separated them; it was rarer still for him to broadcast such raw emotion. Kershia was already wary and ready for trouble when she stepped out of hyperspace into Abby and Marc's house. In a moment, her eyes took in Marc's pale face, his dark eyes wide with alarm. She saw Thomas, standing beside his adopted father with an identical look of distress, and the crying baby in his arms. Her extended psi-awareness swept the house, assuring her at once that there were no intruders. They were safe, under no immediate threat.

Kershia's shoulders slumped, tension draining from them, and she stepped forward to place a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Marc, are you all right? What's wrong?"

Sudden realisation froze the words on her lips. She frowned, once again sensing the mental shape of the house around them. With the men broadcasting their emotions so strongly in front of her it had been easy to miss the underlying emptiness. Slowly, she turned, following Thomas's fixed gaze. At first her eyes refused to take in the reality of the scene in front of her. Then she was reaching out telepathically, knowing that Marc and Thomas must already have done so. (Abby? Abby, answer me!)

Marc waited, lost for words, as Kershia strained for contact. Kershia shook her head, trying to deny what was apparent.

"She could be blocking us?" she suggested, her tone pleading. "Abby's strong enough to hide her mind from all of us. We know that."

"From you and me?" Marc's voice was disbelieving and tinged with anger. "Why, for God's sake? Abby wouldn't do this to us!"

Kershia shook herself, her friend's distress cutting through her own shock. She looked from Marc to Thomas and her voice became clipped and efficient. "Neither of you are hurt? You didn't hear anything?" Her eyes held Thomas's for a moment, concerned by the young man's silence. Thomas shook his head, breaking the eye contact and stepping backwards as if he could hide in the shadows of the doorframe. Marc seemed as shocked as Kershia felt at the re-emergence of the old behaviour pattern. Thomas was a confident young man now, happy in his new family. It was saddening to see the lost and confused Malthus child that he had once been peering out through his blue eyes.

Marc moved closer to his son, taking Frances from him and sending mental reassurance to them both. He rocked the baby gently, comforting her and stilling her tears. When he looked up again, his eyes were calmer, starting to come to terms with the situation. "We didn't hear a thing, Kershia," he sighed. "To be honest, with the kind of nightmares we were both having, I don't think either of us would have woken easily."

Kershia nodded sombrely. The significance of the date had not escaped her and neither Thomas nor Marc could be blamed for remembering the events of this day, five years before. And, of course, the date made Abby's disappearance all the more significant. She gazed at the broken lock on the outside door, almost hypnotised by its wind-induced motion.

"We'll call Stephanie and the others," she said firmly. She brushed her dark hair back behind her ears, pacing a few steps back and forth as she spoke. "We'll get them moving, and David's people..."

"No!" Marc's exclamation was loud and abrupt. He shook his head. "I don't want the Sap authorities involved."

Kershia paused, startled. She and Thomas exchanged anxious looks. It was Thomas who placed a comforting hand on Marc's arm.

"Marc, we're not going to be able to keep it from them," the young man said, his voice soft. "Not today."

There was a moment of silence and then Marc's expression became bleak, as if only now hearing what he had said. "I know." He shook his head. "I know! And I know that we need their help, but I don't trust them." His voice was full of regret as he met Kershia's eyes. "Even after all this time, and all the work we've done. If Saps can do something like this, how can I trust them?"

Kershia hesitated but then nodded. "Let's get Lab Security in first, okay?" she asked. She forced more confidence into her voice than she felt. "They'll know what to do next."

*******

Part Two:

"If a Sap group has kidnapped Abby then they have a use for her." Stephanie's tone was clipped and efficient, but her expression was worried. "They won't hurt her."

"Until they've made their point, or get frustrated, or get scared..." Marc's eyes flashed with anger. "Don't try to patronise me, Stephanie! I know what's going on here." He shook his head, his shoulder length hair swaying with the motion, and buried his face in his hands. He felt the eyes upon him and looked up slowly, knowing that he was the centre of sympathetic attention. Taking a deep breath, he swallowed his anger. "I'm sorry, Steph. Go on."

Stephanie nodded, letting his outburst pass. She pushed away from the bookcase against which she had been leaning. Marc and Abby's sitting room had never been designed for large numbers of visitors. Its displays of arranged flowers and scatter of framed photographs bespoke a cosy domesticity that had been cruelly shattered. Only the link table, doubling as a coffee table, suggested that this was not an ordinary home. On its white surface, a jaunting belt lay neatly coiled: Abby's belt, recovered from the nearby wasteland on which it had been abandoned.

The assembled Tomorrow People felt their eyes drawn constantly back to it, the only focal point in the small room. With Thomas sitting beside his father on the sofa and Kershia in the armchair, only standing room remained, and there was precious little of that. Ben and Cole, Travin and Josh, Roger and Stephanie herself had scattered themselves around the room. The six of them had been forced to remain still, containing their nervous energy, purely through lack of space. Of course, arguably the sheer presence of so many of them was unnecessary. It wasn't as if they could do much, simply by being here. But the bonds that had grown up during the Luna years were too tight for any of them to ignore. Abby was missing, and every one of them had dropped everything to find her, if they only could

In the kitchen, teams of forensically trained Tomorrow People scoured the room for evidence, looking for genetic samples that they could compare to global databases of dissident suspects. In the nearest lab, Don was talking to the locals, trying to find out how anyone could have discovered where Abby and Marc lived in the first place. Elsewhere, Sophie, together with Zoë and the rest of her people, was already scouring databases of other kinds, both for road traffic monitor information from the local area, and, in cyberspace more generally, for any hint of a plot that might explain Abby's disappearance. Without TIM to gather and collect information the task was tedious and frustrating, despite the edge of anxiety they had all detected from their leaders, but that was a difficulty to which they had become accustomed since Luna was disbanded. The intelligence agencies of the Tomorrow People, formally disbanded over a year ago, had swung into action as if the intervening period had never occurred.

And meanwhile, the rest of Abby's friends waited, knowing that there was little they could do at this stage to help, but loath to abandon Marc and Thomas. Of the old team, only Jimmy was missing, his absence felt, but unremarked upon by the others. Jimmy's increasingly desperate efforts to convince them, and the TP community more generally, of an inevitable Sap betrayal had made their old friend an unwelcome presence among the leading Tomorrow People. None of them had called him today. No one wanted to admit, even to themselves, that he might have been right all along.

Now Stephanie took a step forward, commanding the attention of the room. "I'm not sure there's much to say," she admitted unhappily. "We don't know who's taken her, or when, or even how!" She frowned. "In fact 'how' is what troubles me most. How could a group of Saps have got close enough to Abby to seize her without her noticing them first? And how did they stop her calling out to Marc, or to one of us? A stungun would do it, but if the Saps have got their hands on stunguns I want to know how they did that too. We need to find out if the Saps have acquired technologies they're not meant to have."

"Does it matter?" Kershia demanded. "We need to get Abby back. We can work out the wheres and the whyfores later."

Stephanie shrugged. "I'm not disagreeing, Kershia, but would you care to tell me where we start? We can look for clues, we are looking already, but I don't honestly expect us to find anything useful. The Labs don't even have an official security force anymore, let alone the resources to chase this up properly."

"And we're on a time limit," Travin noted grimly. He met the understanding look in Kershia's eyes, and the looks of confusion from most of the others. "The remembrance and reconciliation ceremony," he reminded them, "to commemorate the Lab raids and the rest of it. It's the most public appearance any of us have made in the last year, and it's less than a day away. Does anyone honestly think Abby's absence wouldn't be noticed, or that the timing of this is just coincidence?"

"So whatever they're going to do to Abby, they'll do it today," Marc said bleakly.

"We don't know that they're going to do anything to her," Kershia soothed quickly, laying a reassuring hand on his arm.

"But if they're trying to make a point, that will be the crucial time." Stephanie shook her head in frustration, but her voice was calm and controlled. "For the moment, the ball is not in our court. It's in the hands of whoever has her. All we can do is prepare." She paused, looking directly at Marc. "And we need the Saps' help to do that properly. Marc, I know none of us are happy with this. It seems like a betrayal of everything we've been working for, but we can't judge every Sap on the basis of what a few of them have done."

Marc stood abruptly and then stopped in frustration, clearly wanting to pace the confines of the small room, but unable to find the space amidst his guests. He shook his head bitterly. "How many times have we said that in the past, Stephanie? How many times have we made allowances for one Sap or another? How long are we going to keep making excuses for them? I thought the Novus committee would get somewhere. I was willing to give it a chance, for all our sakes. And look how the Saps have repaid our trust."

"It's not just the Saps who have resisted reconciliation," Josh burst out, shocked by the anger in Marc's voice. "Look at Jimmy and the crackpot groups of militant TPs he's been fostering..."

"Enough!" Kershia exclaimed, standing up beside Marc and looking around the room. "This isn't the time for finger pointing - from anyone. Marc, if the Saps can help us find Abby more quickly, isn't it worth taking the risk?" She didn't wait for him to summon the courage to make that admission. She looked around the room, her voice sharp. "We need to get moving here. We're talking to the Saps, okay? We're using any resources that are necessary. Just get out there - and try to keep this as low-key as possible."

*******

The Tomorrow People left the room in a flurry of movement, some jaunting, others joining the forensic teams scouring Marc's house. They understood Kershia's abruptness, and Marc's bitterness; both were reactions to an anxiety they all shared. Kershia was correct though that nothing would be achieved by further discussion. Nonetheless Marc, Thomas, Stephanie and Kershia herself made no effort to move, standing fast like rocks in a fast flowing stream as the others stepped around them. With a slow sigh, Kershia sank back into her chair, fiddling with the bowl of flowers on the table beside her as she struggled to think of something to say.

"Marc..." Stephanie began reassuringly. Marc held up a hand, cutting her off mid-sentence.

"Don't," he said tiredly. "Don't even try to tell me again how everything will be all right. I don't want to hear it." He turned to his adopted son. "Thomas, I want you to go to the Farm."

Thomas frowned, ready to protest, and Stephanie sighed. "Our Stara Majka has looked after all our kids - Francis, my Ewan, and Zoë and Don's little Jess for that matter - almost every day since they were born, Marc. She's never had a problem before. Even if someone could get past Emina's family, Malthus kids and all, we have that farm rigged with security equipment more advanced than anything else within five hundred miles!"

"I know. Look, I know Frances is safe with Emina and her family." He looked up at Thomas. "But I'd still feel better if you were with her. Just take care of her."

Thomas hesitated, the sixteen-year-old boy anxious to do all he could to help. Something in Marc's voice stopped him from protesting and he nodded reluctantly, standing in preparation to do Marc's bidding.

Stephanie spared him a quick smile as he jaunted. (Keep an eye on Ewan for me, too,) she asked, an irrational concern for her own small son prompted by Marc's fear for his daughter.

There was silence for a long moment, as the ripple of music that accompanied Thomas's jaunt died away. When Marc spoke, his voice was quiet and sad. "You know, everyone keeps telling me that Abby will be fine - that she's proven before that she can take care of herself. I caught myself thinking earlier that I mustn't worry because this isn't the first time one of us has been in trouble, and it's all worked out before. What kind of world do we live in, when I can think something like that? When a woman's abduction can become almost commonplace?"

"A world that we're trying to change, Marc," Kershia answered without hesitation, "Abby, you and I, and the rest of the Novus Committee. We can't let this damage that effort. It's what the kidnappers want, not what Abby would expect of us." She glanced at her watch with a sigh. "Speaking of which it's only quarter of an hour until our Liaison committee meeting is due. I ought to go and tell David that we won't be there, and why." She paused, half expecting a protest from Marc, but he just shrugged dispiritedly.

Standing, Kershia glanced at Stephanie. (You'll stay with him?)

(As long as I'm needed,) Stephanie promised, her mental shielding just as tight as Kershia's. (Kershia, one more thing before you go: what Josh said about Jimmy...)

(Crackpot militants!) Kershia frowned. (One of us has to teach that young man a bit of tact. Those weren't words that Marc needed to hear.)

(But they're closer to the truth than either of us want to admit. Look, Kersh, I know you and Jimmy are... close, but I don't want him to know about this.)

(But he might have valuable information, leads on anti-TP groups...)

(That no one else has picked up on? Not our own security agents or the Saps'. Unlikely. More probably this would just fuel his obsession. He doesn't need another reason to hate them, Kersh, and he doesn't need any more evidence that we're in danger. I don't want to hear rumours and half-truths spread by Jimmy's network. I don't want to see our people cowering in fear again. And I don't want to have to deal with reprisal attacks made by our own people against the Saps. Or the reprisals for those reprisals we'd get from our Alliance overseers. Sometimes I'm afraid he might even stir up trouble, simply to persuade the Alliance to step in on our behalf - or just leave us alone. Look me in the eye, Kershia, and tell me you're not worried about the groups he's getting himself mixed up in.)

Kershia shook her head, looking down once more at the flowers she had been fiddling with. On impulse, she plucked a single long-stemmed bloom from the dishevelled arrangement. Its yellow petals were just beginning to open, the flower-bud rich with promise and possibility. "May I take this?" she asked Marc, aware that the rapid-fire conversation between the two women had taken just a few moments, leaving him oblivious. He shrugged again, bemused.

(Jimmy's misguided, but he's not stupid, Stephanie) Kershia answered eventually. Her tone was worried, defensive. (He wouldn't do anything to hurt our people.)

(I wasn't accusing him of anything,) Stephanie told her quickly. (But you must realise that everyone is worried the people he's mixing with may stop talking and actually do something. I don't know whether Jimmy's infiltrating them to gain inside information, or because he fervently believes in their ideas. He always was secretive and since he's decided that we're betraying the cause... well.) She shook her head. (If anyone can trust him then I guess you can, Kershia. You know him better than the rest of us.)

(Yes, I do,) Kershia snapped, her thoughts defiant now. (Look, Steph, I'm not blind, but the only thing Jimmy is guilty of is being committed to protecting the TPs cause, and I'm not going to condemn him for that. And anyway, even if the other members of these groups want to take action, they're Tomorrow People. They are not able to hurt anyone - any more than you or I am!)

Stephanie's mind touched hers as she jaunted, its thoughts far from reassuring. (There's more than one way to hurt people, Kershia, more than one way.)

*********

Could a place, by its very nature, be sacred? Or did a place become sacred, as whatever spirits governed this world were drawn to it by belief, trust or hope?

Kershia breathed the thin, cold air and felt it refreshing her, cleansing her from the inside out. In the pre-dawn darkness she could almost imagine that this remote place was all that existed, floating isolated and alone through space. Shivering, she closed her eyes, trying to recapture the feeling of peace that she associated with this place, but any such relief escaped her. Kershia sighed and looked around, straining to pick out familiar features in the dim light cast by the gibbous moon. Sadly, she sat down on the nearest rock, aware that her stolen moments were ticking away. Soon, she would have to jaunt onwards, but she had felt the need to come here first. She couldn't stay here for ever, but at the same time she wasn't looking forward to her next encounter. She was hardly David's most welcome visitor at the best of times; today she would come as the bearer of bad news.

Mauna Loa had always been a place to escape to for Abby and herself. Over the years, though, it had come to mean so much more to them both.

"Pele?" Kershia spoke quietly at first, her voice lost amidst the mountain winds. Gradually her words rose in volume, becoming a virtual scream. "Pele, where are you? How could you let this happen?" She looked down at the flower she held, rolling its stem between her fingers. Standing reverentially, she laid it gently on the rock where she had been seated. Pale yellow petals were drained of colour by the silvery moonlight. They formed a bright contrast against the weathered black basalt surface, nonetheless. Gazing down at the lone bloom, Kershia spoke softly, her eyes liquid with unshed tears. "An offering, Pele. Just let us bring her home alive and well. Just let Abby be safe."

Sighing, she stepped backwards, and readied herself for the jaunt to London.

******

"Sit down, Marc," Stephanie suggested, looking up from her palmtop computer screen and rubbing a tired hand across her eyes. "Pacing up and down like that is only tiring you out. And it's making me exhausted just watching you."

"There must be something more useful I can do!" Marc spoke quietly, his tone closer to despair than to his earlier anger.

"We need you here in case someone calls."

"To ask for a ransom," Marc nodded. "I know, I know." He paused in his pacing, looking down at Stephanie. "Tell me again what I should say."

"Why? We've been through it a hundred times already. To be honest, I'm not even sure we should expect a call. No one should have this number. Even if they tried to trace a phone call one of you made, it would just lead them back to the nearest Lab."

"No one was meant to know where we live either, Stephanie," Marc reminded her. "That's why Abby and I directed our services through the Lab in the first place."

Stephanie sighed and nodded. "Just keep them talking long enough for your local Lab to trace the call, Marc."

He sank into a chair beside her, peering over her shoulder at the traffic reports displayed on her computer.

"Are we making any progress at all?"

"Every time we rule something out we're making progress," Stephanie told him, willing herself to believe it too. They seemed to have ruled out almost every lead they had. There had been no unusual traffic on the local monitoring system, although even as they spoke she was checking the registration of every vehicle that had been on the local roads overnight. After all, the Saps who had taken Abby must have transported her away somehow. Stephanie couldn't shake the nagging feeling that she must be missing something. It seemed impossible that anyone could have got away with this so cleanly. They had been unable to find any DNA traces in the kitchen that couldn't be explained away - the TP security teams, Abby's family and their known associates accounted for every sequence found. Even if the intruders had worn gloves and masks, with their heads covered, that seemed just a little too good to be true - for the kidnappers at least. Even Sophie reported that the online message boards showed little sign of anything out of the ordinary - neither a surge of activity nor a suspicious lull in the anti-TP rants that some Sap groups indulged in. Stephanie was closer than she liked to admit to running out of ideas completely. And if that happened, all they would be able to do was wait and see. With Abby's life in the balance, none of them would be satisfied with that. Marc shook his head, slumping back into the soft cushions.

Both he and Stephanie jerked upright, suddenly tense, as an electronic chirping filled the air. The link table pulsed with light in time with the sound, the screen on the wall behind it lighting with a name and number as the caller was identified. Marc shook his head, recognising both as belonging to one of the few people with a legitimate reason to be calling here. The tension didn't drain from him completely, but for a short while, at least, it eased. He spoke aloud, telekinetically triggering the microphone and speakers in the link table so that Stephanie could listen in.

"David?"

"Marc!" The other man's voice was harsh with anger. "I know I've made allowances for you since the baby was born, but you were due here more than three quarters of an hour ago! I half expect it of Kershia, but I expected you at least to be here. You both agreed to this date, if you remember. I've had to dismiss the committee - there were too many things we just couldn't discuss without at least one of our senior TPs present." David's voice paused, as if he were suddenly aware of the stunned silence his outburst had inspired. "Marc? Are you there? Is something wrong?"

"David," Marc swallowed hard, forcing the words past the sudden tightness in his throat, "are you telling me that Kershia isn't there with you?"

They could hear his frown in David's voice as he replied.

"I've not seen her at all today. Should I have done?"

Marc and Stephanie stepped up to the link table, spreading their hands across its warm surface in a single coordinated gesture. There was a long moment of horrible silence before Stephanie leaned forward towards the microphone, keeping her voice as level as she could. "David, I'm sending you a matter transporter belt. Please put it on. I think we need you here."

"Stephanie Finn?" She heard the old suspicion in David's tones. "I'm not doing anything of the sort unless you tell me what's going on!"

"Abby's been kidnapped." The words burst out of Marc in a rush.

Stephanie's addition was more measured, speaking across David's gasp. "And from what you've just told us, and judging by her total silence, I'm very much afraid that Kershia's joined her."

*****

Part Three:

"Why didn't you tell me at once?" David demanded the moment Marc's sitting room swam into view in front of him. He swallowed down the dizziness and disorientation that had accompanied his relocation, forcing his voice to remain firm and level.

"We thought we had told you!" Stephanie threw her arms up in disgust. She pushed herself away from the bookcase against which she had been leaning and took a step towards him, her hands palm-upwards in front of her in an effort to convey her openness. "We've been liaising with Novus Committee staff for hours. You've not spoken to your assistants or deputies today?"

"I've been in a conference room since one o'clock my time - all morning here," David reminded her through gritted teeth.

"And no one interrupted you because I told them that Kershia was letting you know," Marc concluded, shaking his head.

"She said she was going to when she jaunted out." Stephanie frowned, trying to remember the scene. "Where could she have gone? Where would she?" She hesitated, glancing at David. "I can see why she might need a few moments to herself first, but... " her voice trailed off hopelessly.

"Lab security was shut down because your people insisted upon it," Ben's accusation rang out before the chiming music of his jaunt had even had time to fade away. Others shimmered into existence around and behind him, once again overcrowding the small room, but Ben paid them little attention. He fixed David with a scowl, and his voice took on a sing-song tone as if repeating by rote. "'Public opinion won't allow armed and organised Tomorrow People. Why are teams with stunguns necessary? Surely if TPs have civil rights then the police will give them all the protection they need.'" His tone became bitter. "Even Abby decided to set an example by accepting Sap protection. Your people promised that we weren't needed any more because they'd keep everyone safe." He stared angrily around the room, before returning his gaze to the Sap. "Well it sure looks that way now, doesn't it?"

David bridled, unconsciously adopting a fighting stance. By now all of Luna's former leaders seemed to be crowded into the sitting room, only Jimmy and the two women absent. Scanning the faces beyond Ben, David was aware of the angry and upset looks cast his way. In the two years since they had emerged from the shadows, David had come to know each of them by name, but he also knew he would never be a welcome guest here. Even as he readied himself for conflict though, he felt the edge in Ben's words strike home. Kershia, at least, had been his to protect, and he had failed in that duty. It was a relief when Roger stepped between David and the angry Tomorrow Person confronting him.

"Ben, you're not helping," Roger's calm tones cut through the tension in the room. David nodded gratefully, pleased to see a little more tolerance displayed. Of them all, Roger Finn was the only one to work daily and openly with Sap colleagues. Nonetheless, he gave David an unfriendly look before turning away with a sigh. "None of us likes having him here, but Steph thinks he can help."

"This is my house," Marc reminded them all wearily, "and I say he stays."

Ben hesitated, before giving Marc a quick nod and stepping backwards. Roger let some of the strain out of his posture, moving to his wife's side and slipping an arm around her waist in an automatic gesture of reassurance. Stephanie leaned back against his chest for a moment before pushing away from him and bending forward over the room's link table. She frowned in concentration and David saw the white surface pulse with light. Numbers and formulae scrolled up the viewscreen, falling off the top of its limited field before David had the chance to read them. The other Tomorrow People in the room seemed to understand though. Cole peered closely at the viewscreen, nodding.

"We're looking for Kershia's belt? That could take a while," he glanced back at David, explaining reluctantly. "Our belts used to have inbuilt transmitters linked back to TIM, but when the war hotted up we couldn't take the chance of them being traced."

David frowned. "So what are you doing now?"

"Each belt still has a unique molecular signature," Marc told him shortly. "Without TIM it's difficult, but with time, and assuming we know the signature of the specific belt and roughly where to start looking... "

The link table chimed, cutting him off, and Stephanie sighed.

"I've found it." She leaned back away from the table and looked around at the startled expressions of her friends. "I found it exactly where I half-expected to: on the same wasteland where we found Abby's. I can send some teams out to look for clues as soon as they're assembled, but, honestly, I don't think - "

"Look, what if Kershia's still with her belt, eh?" Josh asked, stepping into the centre of the room in an effort to attract their attention. He looked around at the sea of confused and anxious faces. The young man was bouncing on the balls of his feet, his nervous energy overflowing his ability to control it. His hands strayed to touch his jaunting belt. "She might be unconscious - need our help. One of us ought to go look."

"Wait!" David wasn't aware that he'd closed the gap between himself and Josh, seizing the other man's arm, until he felt the sudden increase in tension in the room. He forced himself to relax, easing his grip until Josh could tug himself free and take a few quick steps out of range. David glanced at Stephanie for support. "None of you should go anywhere alone just now. If Abigail and Kershia have both been taken then all of you could be targets - even Josh. People remember the team that appeared on worldwide television as Luna's leaders. They're not going to care which of you are still active, or which of you have stepped out of the limelight."

Stephanie hesitated, and then shook her head in frustration. "Ben, go with him. Don't touch anything, and both of you take care. None of us can afford to take chances. We know that some Saps don't discriminate between the innocent and those of us who are accountable."

"Some Saps, yeah," Ben muttered under his breath, glancing at David. "Come on, Josh, let's get some fresh air."

David shot the younger man an annoyed look, but he wasn't really listening. Stephanie's mention of innocents had reminded him of an aspect of this that he'd overlooked. "Where's the baby? Where's Frances?" he asked urgently. "And Thomas too for that matter? If you're all targets then they are too."

"Safe," Stephanie told him at once. "And well away from this."

"The babysitters are trustworthy?" David insisted.

Marc took two steps forward to look David in the face. "Do you think for a minute that Abigail or I would leave our daughter with someone we didn't trust implicitly?" he demanded. David stood his ground, ignoring Marc's angry response and glancing at Stephanie for confirmation.

She nodded, irritated on Marc's behalf.

"Lab security may have been dismissed overnight, David, but its members didn't vanish. And we're not complete imbeciles. Most of us have been in the public eye continually since the day we were dragged into the light. Of course we made sure there was somewhere safe for the children."

"And your son? He's what - two years old? Three?"

"In the same place," Roger assured him shortly. "Even if you ignore our past, I get enough abuse from Saps who don't like to see a TP in the police that leaving him with a local childminder would just be putting them both in danger."

David accepted the information without comment, knowing that he would be given no more. Nonetheless, there was one more question he had to ask.

"Has anyone told Jimmy?"

There was silence in the room, and David was shocked to realise that the Tomorrow People were avoiding one another's eyes as well as his. He had spoken enough with both Kershia and Jimmy to know that the ex-head of TP security was no longer a welcome presence in their senior councils. However, he was taken aback by the bitter sadness on some of the faces around him.

Marc was the first to speak into the hush that pervaded the small room. "Jimmy's made it pretty clear that he doesn't want to know any of us." He looked up, meeting David's eyes, and spoke in a neutral tone. "In fact, my daughter's christening aside, you've probably seen more of him in the last year than any of us here."

"You're just the enemy," Roger put in tiredly. "We're the ones who are betraying the trust placed in us. I don't honestly know which he thinks is worse."

David hesitated. He looked into Marc's unreadable expression, wondering what the Canadian knew. How much had Kershia told her best friend? And how much had Abigail told her husband in turn? He shook his head. This wasn't about him, or it shouldn't be. He had accepted Kershia's choice, even if he didn't have to like it.

"Jimmy is Kershia's... " David hesitated, but he needed to hear the word, needed to hear himself say it. "Kershia's lover. Even if he wasn't at risk himself, he'd have a right to know."

"I'll talk to him," Stephanie said reluctantly. Her head snapped up and she spoke briskly. "But, since Ben is telling me that the belt is on its own, we have work to do. David, could you arrange to send some of your teams as well as mine? You never know what different eyes might see."

******

Stephanie sat patiently in the confines of Abby's private office, trying not to feel like an intruder as she waited for Jimmy to return her call. Her former superior's mind had remained closed to her, his mental defences like a brick wall around his thoughts. Since he had first walked away from their team, he had shut them out, unwilling to risk passing on any of the information which could slip between minds. With shields like that he had probably been unaware of her attempts to contact him telepathically, forcing her to fall back on more primitive forms of communication.

Even Sophie, for all her technical prowess, had not been able to track Jimmy's email accounts as they bounced from server to server. Every mail seemed to be forwarded through so many layers of encryption that her most persistent mail-bot was forced to return and report failure. Now the message she had sent still lingered on the screen, blurring in front of her tired eyes. Since he had cut off contact with his friends, it was Stephanie's only method of contacting him, and that was endlessly vexatious to a woman accustomed to instant communication.

Sighing, she forced herself to remain still, gazing past the photographs of Marc and the children and through the window into the garden beyond. The sun was high in the sky now, shining directly down on the neatly tended lawn. Soon it would pass zenith and then it would be sinking towards sunset, and the reconciliation service they were all dreading. They had to find Abby and Kershia before then, or all this would be for nothing.

(Call me, Jimmy,) she thought, broadcasting the words and feeling them batter against the walls of his closed mind. (Just call me!)

Caught up in the effort, she gave a startled yelp when Abby's comscreen chimed. A glance showed Stephanie that the caller was both unidentified and using her private number - forwarded here at her command, and with Marc's permission.

"Jimmy?"

"Your mail said it was important?" his voice was cold, calm, the professional voice of Jimmy that she'd come to know.

Stephanie hesitated, not sure where to begin or what to say, and he waited in silence for her answer. In the end her tone became formal, as if they were still on Luna, with him listening to her report. "Abby and Kershia are missing," she said simply.

"What?!" Jimmy's exclamation was loud and angry, making Stephanie wince in reaction. There was a long silent moment before Jimmy spoke again, his tone clipped and efficient. "When, where and how?"

Stephanie started to tell him before giving it a second thought. Her words tumbled over one another in the effort to convey what could have been shared telepathically in an instant. He absorbed the information in silence, not speaking except to prompt her for more when she paused for breath.

"Jimmy, come back," she finished. "This is more important than..."

" ... Than keeping the rest of our people safe?" Jimmy suggested when her voice trailed off and now she could hear the echoes of old arguments in his tone. "What will it take to convince you that life with the Saps isn't all sweetness and light?" He paused and Stephanie heard him sigh. His sudden mood swing took her by surprise when he continued in a soft and sad tone. "Steph, you didn't even call me when all this started. It's been how many hours?" With equal rapidity his tone swung back towards the bitter anger she had expected to hear. "I'll have my people search, but if you expect me to come crawling home, you really don't know me that well."

"I know," Stephanie told him sadly, her voice thickened with tears. She gazed at the blank surface of the viewscreen, still displaying its 'caller unknown' message. She reached out to touch it as if she could touch her distant friend, as if the contact could open his mind to her after so long. "I didn't expect you to say yes." She paused, yet another awkward silence developing between them. "Jimmy, take care of yourself, okay? And don't worry - we'll find her."

The viewscreen buzzed, indicating that the stilted conversation was at an end, and Stephanie stared at it, uncertain whether he'd even heard her final words.

******

Rough scrub covered the uneven ground, half concealing the detritus of an industrial past. It was oddly silent here, an oasis of calm, cut off from the wider world by the major roads that had encircled it. The wasteland was littered with long abandoned sheds and warehouses. Vegetation softened the angular outlines of the ruined buildings as nature claimed what mankind had abandoned.

The buckle of the jaunting belt shone with reflected sunlight, a single point of brilliance in the washed-out landscape. The belt itself hung in disarray from a low-growing shrub. Its slender black coils were twisted and tangled where they had caught on branches as they fell. Tomorrow People and Sap investigators alike milled around it, measuring, recording, attempting to wring every iota of information from the scene.

"Thrown from a car," David deduced. He frowned, looking around him. "There's no sign of anyone on the ground, but we're, what, a hundred metres from the nearest road? It must have been some throw."

Stephanie nodded, leaning back against the trunk of the nearest tree. She crossed her arms, her expression angry as she watched her people work. "It must have been - to land it on the same bush where we found Abby's too." She sighed. "I keep coming back to the conclusion that either they've got their hands on equipment they shouldn't have, or they've persuaded a TP to work with them. I just can't imagine what TP would let this go so far - or put another of our kind in danger."

David gave her a hard look. Absently, he fingered the matter transporter strapped to his wrist, unaccustomed to its presence. At first, he had been swept along by the flurry of activity that had followed Kershia's disappearance. Tomorrow People had jaunted in and out of Marc's house in a seemingly never-ending stream. Some he had recognised, others had been quite unknown to him, but all had brought news of one kind or another. Kershia hadn't entered the Novus committee's headquarters that morning. Or if she had, then she had certainly been missed by the security monitors designed to scan every inch of the building. She hadn't visited her home lab in London, and there was no sign of a struggle at her flat. It seemed that she had vanished even more quickly and quietly than Abigail the night before.

That hadn't ended the search for evidence, of course. Stephanie and Marc had manipulated the telekinetically controlled devices that seemed to be concealed behind every surface in Marc's house, using the link tables and communications screens to coordinate and analyse the situation. David had been forced to watch and listen. Even with access to his phone and laptop, he had felt worse than useless as he tried to ignore the suspicious and resentful looks thrown his way. He had worked quickly and carefully, chasing contacts, all to no avail. There hadn't been time or space to give vent to his anger, and, after the first frantic moments, he had known that to do so could only serve to worsen the situation, not improve it.

Stephanie's decision to study the location of Kershia's jaunting belt in person had been a welcome chance to escape the oppressive atmosphere in the house, and the frantic desperation in Marc's gaze. Travin had returned at a single thought from Stephanie, ready simply to be there for his former protégé. Stephanie had given Marc a quick, tight, hug before she activated David's matter transporter and her own jaunting belt. He'd be told anything they learnt at once, she promised, but she and David needed to see the scene for themselves.

It seemed though that the excuse to escape was just that - an excuse. There was little or nothing to be learnt here. David frowned as he turned back to Stephanie.

"Why come here? We're not going to find anything the forensics people have already missed."

"I had to do something, or we'd both have gone mad," Stephanie smiled tiredly. She paused, compassion in her eyes. "And I wanted to apologise for putting you in the middle of all that. I know that being surrounded by Tomorrow People isn't easy for you. A lot of things have been set aside in the last few years - in the interests of peace. But that doesn't make them forgiven or forgotten. I should have remembered that before pulling you out of your world and into mine."

"Would you have kept me as well informed if I hadn't been here?" David demanded, already knowing the answer. He shook his head. "I'm prepared to do whatever it takes to get Kershia back." His voice softened as the words echoed across the shrubland. "Even if that means facing up to what I've done in the past at the same time."

"I know," Stephanie told him simply. "Look, I don't know how things stand between you and Kershia, or Jimmy and Kershia, or even you and Jimmy. But I know that you still care. And I know that she does too. If she didn't she wouldn't have hesitated before jaunting to London."

David swallowed hard. "You think she was taken because she was putting off coming to see me?"

Stephanie shook her head. Her eyes met his, holding his gaze. "Don't confuse cause and effect, David. Why ever Kershia's being held, it's not because of you." She broke the eye contact. "The motive of all this is worrying me now almost as much as the method. When this was just about Abby we could think of it as something done simply for political motives." She sighed, knowing her words must sound dismissive. "Marc believes that when you get right down to the bottom of things, everything is about people. He didn't agree to join the Novus committee because he wanted some great future for the Tomorrow People, or because he's fascinated by the concept of cooperating with the Saps. He joined the committee because he cares deeply for each and every one of the people he feels responsible for, and thought that it was the way for them to find a better life. To him Abby's disappearance is an attack on her and her family. It's not that he doesn't care what happens to the reconciliation process. It's just that he can't consider that as important as the fact that his wife is missing."

She shook her head. "The others all feel the same, to differing degrees. Marc sees the details, but Abby was always the one among us who could see the bigger picture. The two of them complement one another - that's why they always made such a good team. With Abby vanished, I have to be the one to step back and see the whole landscape. I've been thinking that the people who took her have probably done it to make some kind of point, to disrupt the ceremonies this evening, or simply to scare us." She took a deep breath, before plunging ahead. "If they meant to kill her, they could have taken her out at a distance. Abby's security has been lax. I can see several ways they could have done it - and far more easily than kidnapping one of us. No, this has to have a wider objective. They see Abby as an icon, not a person." She looked at David. "Kershia is prominent enough that she could be a good icon too. But why go to so much trouble to take her when they already had Abby? Kershia's not exactly an easy person to track down, and well able to take care of herself. I'm starting to wonder if Marc was right - if this has personal as well as political motives."

David looked the other woman in the eyes, his gaze carrying recognition of her skills as a security agent, as well as understanding of her need to share her thought processes aloud with someone, anyone, outside of her immediate circle. "I can't argue with your reasoning. If Abigail and Kershia have both been taken then this could be about you as a group - as much as it is about the Tomorrow People as a whole. Much as I hate to admit it, the few groups who could even consider doing something like this are extremists. They'll remember you on the UN stage, and they'll remember that you were ready to die for Abigail. They'll try and use that against you." He frowned, glancing back at Stephanie, and spoke a little sarcastically. "Even if you have nominally retired." He looked around the clearing. "I have to say: I didn't think you people were coordinated enough to handle something like this any more. And I thought you, personally, were well out of it."

"Believe me," Stephanie snapped back in response. "I'm no happier to be here than you are to see me. Nothing would please me more than being back home with my son, but you can't honestly expect me to go!"

He shook his head simply. Turning away from her, he made a vague attempt to brush dust off the upper surface of a crumbling wall. Its topmost courses of brick were long gone, but the thigh-high remnants held steady as he carefully lowered his weight onto them. He raised a hand to shelter his eyes from the morning sun as he looked up at her.

"I didn't say that. It wouldn't really be unreasonable to ask why I'm here either. You're using Novus personnel and the resources they have access to, but my committee is about resettlement of people and the settling of disputes - not security. Neither of us have official security roles any more." He paused, glancing around him to ensure that they couldn't be overheard. "But I do have responsibilities, and I can't carry those out effectively where you and your people are concerned. You're not going to believe it, Stephanie, but I'm glad you're back in action - even if it is too late."

Stephanie took a step closer. She peered into his face, trying to read the emotions behind his stern expression.

"What is it you're trying to say, David?"

David sighed.

"Almost a year ago, as head of the Novus committee, I was sent an eyes-only intelligence report. It warned that there was increasing evidence that dissident Sap and TP groups were planning some kind of show of power - something that would disrupt the peace process, possibly even a threat against members of my committee."

"And you didn't warn Kershia, or Marc? And even Abby wasn't told?"

"At the time, there was suspicion that someone on the Novus committee was feeding them information. I did everything I could - followed up anything suspicious until ... well, until I convinced myself I was jumping at shadows. By then I assumed that Abby would have been informed. I know that the UN Secretary General was. I even liaised with his security services in an attempt to keep the Novus committee secure. Nominally UN Security protects Abigail at her public appearances too, but they know nothing of her movements when she's not in her office or at some event. Of course I was worried about that. But who was there to contact in the Labs? I know you have plans for formal elections, but to an outsider your system still looks like an autocracy. And even if it had been my place to pass on top-secret information, if I couldn't talk to Kershia or Marc, how could I trust Abigail? If I couldn't speak to any of the three of them, who was there to warn? As far as I knew, you were completely out of touch with the situation, and Jimmy ... well, I'm not sure what's going on between him and the rest of you. Let's say I'm not completely sure of Jimmy's motives, even if I knew where to find him. The fact that he's not here makes me wonder if you are either."

There was a thoughtful silence as Stephanie absorbed the unexpected information. "Why are you telling me this now?" she asked eventually.

"Because you and the other Luna leaders have a right to know," David told her shortly. "Because you might see some pattern in the evidence that I missed. And because, given how Kershia vanished, I have to ask you whether I might have been wrong. The more we learn about this, the more it seems frankly impossible without stunguns, matter transporters, the whole works. I know I told you that some Tomorrow People have been duped into working with dissident Saps, but could anyone be convinced to dump a jaunting belt without becoming suspicious?" His voice became harsh, his expression distant. "From what you said ... you know about my past - with Kershia?" He waited for her wary nod. "I convinced myself that she was innocent of any wrong in this, but I know that my judgement where she's concerned is ... suspect. So tell me, Stephanie: do you think Kershia is working to undermine us all?"

"Did you touch her mind when it was flooded with terror for her friend?" The angry demand rang across the wasteland, drawing eyes from the activity around the belt. David jumped to his feet, stepping close beside Stephanie, even as she turned to face the angry newcomer. Caught up in their conversation, neither of them had heard the shimmering sound of an incoming jaunt. "Did you hear her trying to comfort Marc? Are you even capable of a little empathy? Or does that Sap mind of yours think that just because she's a TP she's capable of anything?"

"Ben!" Stephanie exclaimed, her tone sharp. "I know diplomacy has never been your strong point, but don't you think - "

"No, I don't," Ben snapped. "I've had enough of all this talk. We ought to be out there, finding Abby and Kershia, not sitting around at some service, and not standing here listening to a Sap question their loyalty!"

He jaunted out before David could summon words to his defence, and Stephanie's eyes defocused as she made contact with him. David was still stunned into silence when her attention returned to him.

"Did that answer your question?" she asked abruptly. "I know why you had to ask it, but I can confirm what Ben said. There is no way Kershia was involved with this. She's a good actor, but no one is good enough to lie with her thoughts as wide open as Kershia's were when we realised Abby was gone."

David nodded, relieved by her words. He frowned. "I know Ben's never much liked me, but today..."

Stephanie sighed. "You know Ben's father owns a firm of hauliers? Well, Ben's been high profile since we emerged, and his father's firm has been suffering for it. Their rivals have been steadily undercutting their prices - and spreading rumours about the unreliability of Smith's just to make sure. Last month, their main warehouse was burnt to the ground. The police tried to brush it off as an accidental fire. It took a formal letter from Kershia before they even agreed to consider the idea that it was arson. When Ben said that the police don't want to know about protecting us, he was speaking from personal experience." She stopped, studying his shocked expression, and nodding in satisfaction when she saw her words sinking in. For a long minute there was silence between the two but then Stephanie shook her head, clearly roused by some telepathic contact. "It seems Ben came to tell us that Sophie wants to talk to us," she said briskly. "The others are waiting."

******

Part Four:

Sunlight played on the autumn foliage, highlighting its vivid shades. The pattern of leaves, of oranges and browns, varied in a never-ending display, turning the garden into a glorious kaleidoscope. Abigail loved this garden. Over the last year she had pleaded, and cajoled, and bullied Marc into caring for it. He had done so willingly in the end, taking pleasure from her smiles as she sat on the lawn, surveying the verdant growth.

Now a cool breeze was blowing across that lawn and into the sitting room. Marc ignored the chill as he sat perched on the desk beside the open patio doors. The inside of his house had become stifling as more and more of his friends crowded into it. He had begun to feel imprisoned in his own home - waiting for a call he was sure now would never come.

And yet, how could he leave? Sophie had offered to call this meeting at her home Lab, redirecting any calls, but Marc had turned her down. Too much had gone wrong this day for him to take any further risk. What if the connection failed? What if Abby's kidnappers attempted to contact him and he was unobtainable? What if Abby herself escaped and he was not here to welcome her home? No. Until the time came when he had no choice in the matter, Marc would be here waiting.

But that time would come, whether he willed it or not. Marc sighed, turning back to face the room.

"Marc, are you sure?" Travin asked with a frown.

Marc spared his old friend a quick glance before looking away. "You heard what Sophie said. Not having Abby and Kershia at the reconciliation service is going to be a disaster. If any more of us aren't there... "

Sophie gave him a worried smile. The Tomorrow People's head of intelligence, media and propaganda had become their chief press officer with a seamless transition. While most of the other leading Tomorrow People had found their roles diminishing since their emergence, Sophie and her teams had become - if anything - more central to their efforts. Now she was the one forcing them to face the practical implications of the situation. She stepped to the centre of the room, her red-haired assistant Zoë moving to her side and ready to support her.

"I'm as worried as any of you," Sophie told them, uncomfortable at the attention focused on her. "But we've all been on the attendance list for this thing for months. We're all of us in the front few rows - including David. When the world press sees that Abby and Kershia aren't there...." She sighed. "The Saps will believe that we're not serious about the peace process, assuming we think we're too superior. The TPs will panic, wondering what the Saps have done to change our minds - why we've stopped trusting them. The Alliance will hold us to account for the damage that will do to the reconciliation effort. It's going to take my teams years to repair that damage."

"And that's why I told Sophie I'm still going to the ceremony - whether we've found Abby or not," Marc said simply. "If none of us are there, then there will be nothing left for Sophie and her people to salvage. When my wife gets home, I want her to have something to come back to. And even if there wasn't Abby to think of ... I've spent years caring for our people." There was no pride in Marc's voice, and no regret. There was just a simple recognition that this was the way things were. "I have a duty not to abandon them now."

There was a moment of silence. Finally Ben shook himself, as if rousing from a dream. "All right, but you can't expect us all to just sit there and listen to people talking - "

"Would you rather just sit here and listen to people talking instead?" Roger interrupted bluntly. "Face it, Ben, we're getting nowhere."

"There's still time before the ceremony," Josh insisted. "There's hours yet."

"True," Zoë admitted, her eyes worried but her tone brisk. "But, Josh, it's not quite that simple."

"Nothing ever is," Cole murmured laconically.

Sophie nodded. "We need to send out formal press releases before the service. It might help to head off some of the wilder speculation and, if we warn them in advance, we might even get away without offending the Secretary General and Alliance representative." She looked across the room to where David was sitting quietly. "I've already been in touch with the Novus Committee press office. Kershia's absence will need to be explained by both of us, and we have to agree on our explanation first."

"I suppose the truth is out of the question?" Travin asked, shaking his head.

Sophie opened her mouth to answer, but whatever words were on her lips died there. Marc had jumped to his feet as he felt a moment of tightly controlled panic from Emina's distant farm. His son's mind touched his, and a moment later the already overfull room was suddenly more crowded still. A baby's wails split the air, joined by the loud and frightened crying of three other small children.

"Thomas!" Marc leapt forward, taking Frances from his son's arms and anxiously studying the young man for any sign of harm. Seeing none, he rocked the baby gently, concentrating on soothing her frightened thoughts as he waited for an explanation.

Stephanie and Roger too hurried forwarded to take hold of their son, while Zoë dropped to her knees beside her two-year-old daughter, brushing tears from the little girl's face. Alex Malthus let them go willingly, the teenage boy breathing a sigh of relief. Small Ewan babbled anxiously, telling his parents about loud noises and flashing lights. They calmed him with quiet words, their mere presence reassuring the toddler that all was right with the world.

Freed of his burden, the blond young man who had carried the children took a step back towards the girls who completed their party. Sanela Reganovic held her small sister's hand tightly, the twelve-year-old girl trying to master her own fear before she could begin to comfort three-year-old Mia. With a reassuring smile, Josh stepped forward, and eased the little girl away from Sanela and into a tight hug.

The infants quietened, the well-shielded minds of the adults buffering them from their shock. As the room stilled, the older children seemed to calm down too. Thomas drew a deep shuddering breath and glanced at his brother and at Sanela, checking that they were all right.

"The alarms went off on the Farm," Sanela burst out before either of the two young men could speak.

Alex nodded. "All the intruder alarms," he confirmed.

The Tomorrow People exchanged worried looks. At a nod from Stephanie, Ben and Cole jaunted, heading to the Reganovics' farm in order to investigate. Don went with them, determined to discover what had threatened his daughter. Stephanie herself turned back to the newcomers with an intent expression, letting Roger draw Ewan away.

"Tell me what happened," she ordered briefly.

Thomas shook his head. "We don't know any more," he said simply. "The three of us were babysitting the kids, and then the alarms started."

"And you just grabbed the children and came here?"

"With what's been happening, it was the sensible thing to do," David commented grimly. His words drew attention to him for the first time, and both Thomas and Alex gasped as they realised he was present. David gave Thomas a sad look, his emotions as mixed as ever when it came to his former charge. Alex, on the other hand, he studied curiously, trying to place this blond, blue-eyed young man. His expression changed slowly to one of wonder and recognition as he compared Alex to his brother. Alex returned his gaze, wide-eyed as he saw David face to face for the first time in nearly nine years. For a moment, there was eye contact between them. Alex broke it first, turning away from David and back to Stephanie with a frown on his face.

"The others are telling me that there's no sign of anyone there. It's as if the alarms went off for nothing."

"That's pretty much what Cole's telling me too," Roger volunteered. "They're looking around, and there are people from the nearest Lab there too now. But they can't figure out who - or what - set off the alert."

"Could it be a malfunction?" Josh asked hopefully, looking up from where he had been talking softly to Mia. "Nothing to worry about?"

Roger gave him an incredulous look. "If you believe that - today of all days - you'll believe anything, Josh."

"Is this about us?" Alex snatched another quick glance at David. His tone was unhappy and frightened. "Have my siblings and I put our family in danger?"

"No one's in danger," Sophie soothed quickly. "Alex, I'd swear no one's found out that you live on the farm."

"It's one of our highest priority monitoring efforts," Zoë confirmed with a frown. She hoisted little Jess into her arms, rocking the girl gently. "If word leaked out about where you were, Sophie and I would know within minutes."

"I thought no one was meant to know where we sent the babies either?" Marc demanded bitterly.

Sophie gave him an exasperated look, shaking her head to indicate her incomprehension. "This makes no sense," she admitted. "I could count the number of people who know about the Farm on my fingers. And most of them are standing here."

"Could Abigail and Kershia have been made to talk?" David asked abruptly. Incredulous looks were turned on him from every corner of the room.

"About the Farm?" Marc exclaimed. "No!"

"Kershia would never put us in danger," Alex chimed in simultaneously. He hesitated as he realised that he had spoken directly to David for the first time, but then squared his shoulders, confronting the older man with his certainty.

Stephanie had been standing quietly, her gaze fixed on nothing. Now she shook herself, and they realised she was pale and her expression was very sad.

"This isn't about you," she told Alex with absolute certainty.

He broke eye contact with David once again, turning to nod at Stephanie. Frowning, the young man brushed her mind, automatically trying to determine the reason for her surety. Sanela broke his concentration. The girl was fidgeting, shifting her weight from foot to foot.

"If there's no one there, oughtn't we to get home?" she asked. "Majka will fret until we get back, Alex." She looked around the room, her powerful empathy making her aware of every stray emotion broadcast. "And we're in the way here, aren't we?"

Stephanie nodded.

"I'm sorry, Sanela, but you're right," she said in the same neutral tone as before. "Why don't you two head back - and take the children." She stilled the protests from both Marc and her own husband with a look before turning back to Alex. "Tell Emina that if she's worried, we'll arrange to take the whole family to a major Lab. But I don't think you'll have any more trouble."

Alex and Thomas exchanged worried looks. With a torn expression, Thomas looked from his brother to his adoptive father and back again.

"There's nothing we can do to help?" Alex asked seriously. Stephanie shook her head, both her thoughts and her expression carefully guarded.

Roger and Zoë surrendered their children reluctantly. Jess returned to her familiar babysitter without hesitation, calm now that her mother had made the lights and noises stop. Ewan, slightly older than his playmate, clung to his father for a second before the reassurance that both Roger and Alex broadcast eased his fears. Marc hesitated longer still before handing Frances over. He kissed the sleepy baby gently as he placed her into Thomas's arms. He didn't ask whether Stephanie was certain, trusting her enough not to question. He just looked his children over carefully, before meeting Thomas's questioning gaze.

"Go with your brother," he said quietly. "And, Thomas, take care."

The children vanished in a ripple of sound and light. The sound redoubled as Ben and Cole returned.

"We reset the alarms as you ordered," Cole reported briefly to Stephanie.

"Don's staying behind to keep an eye on things, and settle down the local Lab," Ben added. He glanced around the room, registering the absence of the youngsters and following the attention of the others towards Stephanie. In the end though, it was Roger who put the question into words.

"All right, Stephanie. What do you know?" he demanded.

Stephanie looked around the room. Her expression was tired and intensely regretful.

"All along we've said that what's happening makes no sense and it doesn't - unless you see what's really being attempted here." She paused. "Someone's trying to scare us."

"I'd say they're succeeding," Ben volunteered bitterly.

"No," Stephanie shook her head. "You still don't understand. I'm not talking about Tomorrow People in general. I'm not even talking about something to do with the reconciliation service. I'm talking about us personally - those of us here in this room."

"But - " Marc protested.

"This is being done by someone who knows us, Marc. Abby was taken by someone who knew where to find her, and could get close to her when he did; a Tomorrow Person, or at least someone with TP technology; someone who knew how and where to find Kershia - and someone who knew about Emina's farm. He's trying to frighten us, but that last was just too much to accept." Her voice softened. "He must be getting desperate to convince us if he made that mistake."

"He?" Roger repeated. "Steph, I don't ... "

"Jimmy." David clenched his fists by his sides, and his voice was angry. He saw the agreement in Stephanie's eyes, and the shocked realisation on the faces of the others. "Who else?"

*****

Part 5: Intermission

Sighing, Kershia stepped back from her offering, and readied herself for the jaunt to London.

A sudden gust of wind blew sharp and cold down the mountainside. Shivering in the icy blast, she paused, wrapping her arms around herself for warmth and comfort. Glancing at her watch, she came to a quick decision. There were still five minutes before David would begin to wonder where she and Marc had got to, and those five minutes would be time enough for her to feel another pair of arms wrapped around her, another person's warmth comforting her. Whatever the truth in Stephanie's words, Kershia couldn't deny how she felt.

She focused her mind, struggling to find the gap in his mental shields that her lover left for her alone. "Jimmy?" she called.

******

He was standing by a link table when she jaunted to him, and she sensed his surprise and dismay. Despite the rapid passing of time, Kershia looked around her with interest. Her relationship with Jimmy may have strengthened and deepened over the last year but, even so, he had been careful never to allow her to see his base of operations. This was a side of his life he didn't speak of, and she never asked about. A relationship could only survive just so much argument, and they both knew that this was one matter on which they would never come to agree. Usually, when they met, either Jimmy jaunted to her flat or she would join him in his private rooms. Today she had jaunted to him the moment she had made contact with his mind, not giving him time to suggest any other rendezvous.

"Kershia?" He moved to her side in a quick, graceful motion. His arms enveloped her, although whether the embrace was for her comfort or to stop her from studying the room wasn't clear. Kershia decided quickly that she didn't care. She had seen minor Labs before. If Jimmy and his people had appropriated a disused one then she wasn't going to make a fuss. Jimmy looked down at her, stroking her long, dark hair. "Are you all right? I asked you never to come here."

Kershia hesitated. Now that she had arrived, she already regretted the impulse that brought her here. Stephanie's warning rang in her mind and, despite the mental shields that kept his thoughts locked tightly away from her, she felt a tension in Jimmy's mind that she had neither the time nor the inclination to investigate now. Stephanie was right that he didn't need any reinforcement of his suspicions. She shook her head, burying her face in his shoulder. (Just hold me,) she thought simply.

Jimmy sighed, but didn't release her. "I'm sure she'll be all right."

Kershia felt herself tense and pulled back, looking up quizzically at him, before she realised what must have occurred. "One of the others told you?" she deduced, relieved but concerned. Jimmy hesitated, letting his arms fall away from her and back to his sides.

"Is that so surprising?" he asked defensively. "Kershia, I've been warning you something like this could happen for years. Neither you nor Abby have been taking your own security seriously."

Kershia turned to pace the room, but Jimmy moved into her path, forcing her to remain confined to the corner into which she had jaunted.

"Look, doesn't this just prove what I've been saying? We might have to share this world with the Saps, Kershia, but we don't have to trust them. All they want is to hunt us down, to get rid of us once and for all. Now we're in the open, we can't take any chances. We aren't safe, none of us are safe. Doesn't this make you see that? They're biding their time, waiting for us to get complacent, but they've not changed. They want to kill us all."

Kershia shuddered, turning away from him. "To kill us?" she whispered. "Is this supposed to be making me feel better?" She shook her head. "Jimmy, can't you hear yourself? Can't you hear the paranoia?" He flinched, but she didn't see it, too wrapped up in her anxiety to notice the effect her words had upon him. "No. I can't believe it, even now. I can't believe that everything we've done has been for nothing. The Novus committee, everything.... The Saps aren't bad people, any more than we are." She sighed, glancing back at him sadly. She had hoped for a little comfort, but there had been none for her here. "I ought to go. David will be waiting."

"Kershia," Jimmy stepped forward, closing the gap that had opened between them and reaching out to grip her by one shoulder. His voice was low and fervent. "You have to see. Isn't it better that this has happened now, while Stephanie and the others are still around to deal with it? The Saps have been biding their time. They know we've let our defences down, but our security people are still out there, waiting to be called back. Another year, or two years, and they won't be waiting for our call anymore. They'll have other commitments, other priorities, and we wouldn't be able to respond to something like this. You and Abby want so much to believe that we can have peace with the Saps that you can't see the war that's about to reignite under your noses."

"Better?" Kershia repeated slowly. "Better?" She shook herself free of his grip, her temper flaring in response to his verbal onslaught. "How can you say that, Jimmy? How can you even think it while Abby's life is in danger? You sound almost glad..." Her voice trailed off, and her eyes widened. She stared into his impassioned, almost fanatical expression. Realisation filled her, horrifying her. "But her life isn't in danger, is it, Jimmy? It never was." She took a step towards him, and this time he retreated a step before her. "How did you know Abby was missing?"

He was silent, his expression becoming one of stony determination. Kershia felt her heart in her mouth as she stared at the man she had trusted enough to love. "Where is she, Jimmy?"

Kershia didn't see the stungun that Jimmy lifted telekinetically from the rack behind her. She didn't feel his powers engulfing it, supporting it against gravity's unrelenting pull, until he released the flare of energy that triggered its firing mechanism - and by then it was too late.

Jimmy caught her unconscious body as it collapsed, cradling her in his arms before she could fall to the floor. Tears of anguish trickled down his cheeks, but his expression remained the resolute mask that she had seen as consciousness fled. "I didn't want to do this." His whisper seemed suddenly to echo in the otherwise empty Lab. "But I had to make you understand. You all have to see how much danger we're in. We can't trust them, Kershia. They want us dead. They want us all dead."

******

Part Six:

"I don't believe it!" Ben exclaimed, but there was doubt in his tone. "Jimmy worked with us for years. He wouldn't - "

"He would," Cole said suddenly. "He wouldn't ever hurt Abby, and he certainly wouldn't hurt Kershia, but this? Yes. If he was sure enough that we were wrong, he'd do this."

Roger gave his usually taciturn friend a surprised look. "I don't want to believe you," he told Stephanie uneasily.

"But you do, don't you, Roger?"

He nodded unhappily. "There doesn't seem to be any alternative."

She went to him, hugging him comfortingly. "I don't want to believe it either. But what choice do we have?"

"Abby's safe," Marc murmured, more to himself than to the others. "Kershia too."

David also took a moment to steady himself with that realisation. His relief though was a single candle burning in the howling gale of his fury. Jimmy had promised David he would care for Kershia. He had broken that promise. "Where is he?" David demanded. He glanced at Sophie. "If we act now we might even get them back before anyone realises they were missing." He hesitated, aware of their silence. "One of you must know."

The Tomorrow People in the room exchanged questioning glances, each of them shaking their heads in turn.

"Then we're no closer to knowing where they are than we were before!" To his surprise, Josh's exclamation was greeted by a smile from Stephanie.

"Oh, Josh," she told her young friend. "We're closer, we're much closer."

"I don't see how," David sighed.

"David, some of us have worked with Jimmy for a decade or more. He's more than a colleague. He's one of our closest friends. We'll find him." Stephanie moved into the centre of the room and raised her hands for silence. She spoke briskly. "Continent?"

Marc frowned. "I had always assumed Europe."

"Why?" Stephanie asked intently.

Marc's frown deepened as he thought about it. "I think it's because of the timing. The times when I know Kershia's seen him. The rare occasions he's actually come here to see us. They've all been more suited to European time than local time."

"Anyone else? Has anyone seen Jimmy in the last couple of years at a time that would be unreasonable given that assumption?" Stephanie looked around herself. "No? Well, the time zone isn't that much help. We could still think of Africa, the Middle East, or even parts of South America. They'd all be within a couple of hours of GMT."

"No," Ben said abruptly. He looked around the room. "Has anyone seen Jimmy more recently than Frances's christening back in March? I spoke to him there - he commented that there were more spring leaves on the trees here than back home." Ben paused, aware of David's bemused look. "We were trying not to argue," he admitted. "So we were sticking to small talk."

"Northern hemisphere weather," Stephanie noted, ignoring Ben's explanation. "Europe then. That makes sense. The population density and number of Tomorrow People are both high enough to conceal an extra group. But Europe is a large place. We need to narrow this down. Think, people. Any extra information?" She turned to the one and only Sap in the room. "David, you said you'd been warned of activist groups. Where, and doing what?"

"All over the world," David sighed, shaking his head. "And most of them are just agitating. You know the kind of thing: organising street protests, spreading harmful rumours, the occasional attack on the property of a leading TP sympathiser - or Sap sympathiser for that matter. I've looked for patterns in the data, and had trained analysts look too. If there's something there we haven't seen it."

"Show us," Stephanie said simply. "Show us all of it."

David hesitated for a long moment. He nodded shortly. "Some of it is on my computer. Some is in databases I can give you access to. The rest is up here." He tapped his forehead. "Tell me what you want to know."

"Places, times, severity of he disturbance," Stephanie counted the points off on her fingers. "Let's start with that and see where it takes us."

David nodded. "Ben, pass my laptop. We'd better get started."

******

"Abide with me." The woman sang quietly, her words scarcely audible, but they made Jimmy flinch nonetheless. "Fast falls the eventide - "

"Stop that!"

He gestured with his stungun as she looked up and she fell silent, her eyes wide with horror. Another quick gesture and she turned back to the patients, her eyes glued to the monitor on which their vital signs were being displayed.

Jimmy watched her like a hawk, his eyes flicking between her back, the monitors, and the faces of both Abby and Kershia with a quick, nervous motion. The woman sat quietly, hardly daring to shift in her seat for fear of provoking him. Instead, TP and Sap remained still, listening to the gentle hum of the Lab's systems. The Sap nurse had been a necessary evil. Years of field medicine had taught Jimmy just how much he didn't know about the human body. Time and again he had stunned Saps, knowing that the stunguns had been calibrated and programmed by those more knowledgeable than himself, knowing that his targets would wake none the worse for the experience. To keep another person unconscious, but uninjured, for long hours... well, that was another matter entirely. When it had become clear that this was the only way, he had known he would need trained help. He would never harm Abby, never dream of hurting her - and now Kershia had fallen into his care too.

Of course, there were trained personnel in his own organisation, but how could he trust any of them with this? The few of his TP group that he really trusted were here already, guarding the entrances to this Lab, or substituting for him in the control room during the brief breaks he allowed himself. If only one of them had been a doctor - but that had been too much to hope for. They were the agents who had served under him on Luna, or with him even before that, their trained minds seeing through the lies that had deceived everyone he cared for. Most of the other Tomorrow People he had taken under his wing were frightened children, the only ones who had seen through the Sap lies. They would panic if they saw Abigail here, not understanding that this had become necessary. He couldn't risk word of what he was doing escaping this place and flowing through the population at the speed of thought itself. The leading TPs needed to be shaken from their complacent somnambulism. Too many innocents were following them blindly along their dangerous path.

-- Yes, that's it... you're listening to us now, aren't you...? You see the dangers, but already you're too late! --

Jimmy shook his head as he heard the whispers start. Unconsciously, he raised his hands to cover his ears, desperate to shut out the screaming that formed a background to the accusing words. He heard them more and more often now, the voices of those who had died in the long years of the Mass Breakout. They cried out to him, demanding to know why he hadn't been there, asking why he hadn't saved them when they had been under his care. They harried him, deriding his efforts, reminding him that those efforts had never been good enough before. They taunted him with a thousand of death screams, and even in that agony he heard the accusations they carried.

"No!" he whispered aloud, trying to shut out the noise. "No!" he cried more loudly, and he saw the nurse flinch back from him, her eyes wide with horror and confusion. Her reaction grounded him, quieting the screams. They faded slowly, leaving him trembling. "I'm doing all I can," he told himself...told them. "I'll do whatever it takes. I won't let the killing start again. I won't let our people down!"

His eyes slipped back to Kershia's face, and he wrenched them away. Sternly he forced himself to watch the Sap nurse, studying even her terrified thoughts for any sign of treachery. The woman had been unconscious when she had been brought here - unaware that her abduction had been accomplished in any way out of the ordinary. The sight of a gun alone had been enough to convince her to cooperate - and to still her gasp when she had recognised her unconscious patient.

Since he had carried Kershia's limp form into the room where she and her patient waited under armed guard, her fear of him had reached new heights. Jimmy could hear the memories of the old rumours that had crowded her mind for many hours. Could they have been right? Were the Tomorrow People as dangerous as the propaganda had claimed for all these years? Or was this a Sap terrorist, bent on reversing the paradigm shift that had swept the planet? She was convinced that the slightest move from her would be enough to make him kill her, and most likely her two charges with her.

Jimmy smiled a tight, unamused smile at her misapprehension, but it faded rapidly. The thought of what a Sap extremist might do if he was here in Jimmy's place was hardly humorous. No, recruiting a Sap doctor from the network of cells Jimmy had fooled into doing his work had been out of the question. He would never let those fools know for whom they were working. And he would sooner die than let them near his unguarded friends. The nurse had been the best compromise, possessing the medical training Jimmy had required, but too weak willed to act against him. She was easy enough to deal with. As long as she was watched, the Sap would never dare hurt Abby or Kershia, and when all this was over she could be returned, her mind swept clean of any memory of this long day.

He frowned, the anxiety he had swept to the back of his mind returning.

-- And when all this is over, what will you do with them? --

Jimmy forced himself to think rationally, trying to ignore the venom with which the voices had imbued that final word. He would not view his friend and the woman he loved simply as a problem; they meant more to him than that.

Abby, too, could be returned anonymously after the farce of a reconciliation service was over and his point made. He had taken her by surprise, counting on the familiarity of his well-shielded mental touch to keep it below the threshold of her conscious awareness. She hadn't known, and still didn't know, who was responsible.

Kershia was the problem. He hadn't expected her to find him here, and it had been sheer good fortune that he had been out of this room when she had done so. On the other hand it had been sheer clumsiness on his part that had aroused her suspicions. He had been so desperate to make her understand that he had barely listened to what he was saying.

The words she had spat at him in return still echoed in his mind, the silence of the room presenting no rival distraction. For a moment his vision blurred, and then Kershia seemed to stand before him, an accusatory look in her dark eyes. Startled, confused, Jimmy jerked his vision downwards. It was both a worry and a great relief for him to see her still form stretched out on the bed beside him. When he dared raise his eyes, the spectre of her was gone.

-- Incompetent -- The whispers started again. -- For all your petty efforts, you couldn't even do this. -- He tried to shake himself free of the taunts, his eyes settling again on Kershia's face, but the voices of the dead refused to leave him alone. -- She saw through you in an instant. Do you think she'll ever accept this? Do you think she'll ever look at you again? She'll betray you. You've failed us, failed everyone. --

"She loves me," Jimmy spoke aloud once more, but he couldn't hide the tremble of doubt in his voice. Could she ever truly be content in love while her heart was still torn in two - even if she didn't realise it herself? Could her affection for him survive a shock like this? Or would she run back to other arms? Did she mean what she had said?

Paranoia, she had said, and just for that instant he had been a six-year-old child again, crying with fear as his uncle raved. No! He forced the uncertainty aside. Uncle Patrick had been a sick man, his actions irrational. Jimmy's were measured, planned, certain. How could it be paranoia if they really were out to get you?

Kershia could be persuaded. Somehow, he'd make her see. He had made sacrifices for her; he had even accepted her feelings for a Sap who had tried to kill them both. If Jimmy could deal with talking to David, if he could step in to save his rival's life, even - for her sake - then surely she could deal with this. Abby would be returned, unharmed. Surely Kershia would understand that no one need ever know who had taken her?

Jimmy gritted his teeth, the thought of David reminding him of the promise he had broken. He had sworn to leave Kershia untouched by this side of his life - for her own sake. But he had been left no choice, he reminded himself again and again. For her own sake he had been left no choice.

Sighing, Jimmy shook his head. At least he had been more careful with Stephanie. If she and the others believed, if Kershia could be convinced, then all this was still worth the cost.

He stood, the abrupt movement making the nurse gasp. Using the stungun as a pointer, he waved her back away from the other women and against the far wall. She did as she was told without question, accustomed now to this small ceremony. A thought from Jimmy brought one of his agents to the door of the room. The man peered through the small glass window, checking the position of the chamber's occupants before opening the door. Jimmy nodded as his subordinate unholstered his stungun and entered, taking Jimmy's place by the beds.

(Watch them carefully,) he whispered telepathically, unable to stop himself, as the door closed behind him.

*****

"Does anyone else see what I just saw?" Stephanie asked suddenly. Half an hour of hard work had produced a map of incidents attributed to Jimmy's diverse organisation on the room's viewscreens. Each was colour coded by the severity of the incident and the date on which it had occurred. As David had told them, the scatter seemed almost random, concentrated near population centres certainly, but nothing entirely unexpected. Now Stephanie rubbed her eyes with the heels of her palms, trying to ease their tiredness. "Travin, tell me about the activities in Canada."

"What about them?"

"Just a general summary, as if you were reporting it to one of the Seniors."

The former leader of the Canadian Tomorrow People frowned at the screens. "Well, there are fewer large events than might be expected given our population, but on the other hand, if Jimmy was trying to avoid our notice then that's hardly surprising. Timewise, there are small events all day, but anything of any size happens in the mornings - very little in the evenings."

Stephanie nodded. "That's consistent. Jimmy's always been keen on being in control. He wants to keep a personal eye on everything, and this - well, he's been trying to be cautious. Some of the people involved on these protests are real militants, but he's kept the worst of their protests under control. Go on, Travin."

"Geographically, I'm not really seeing any pattern. There are fewer incidents on the west coast - but I think that's the time zone effect again. There are quite a few in more rural regions, but that's where the population tends to be more conservative, so it's a natural hotbed for dissidents. Cosmopolitan centres in Canada tend to be more liberal."

"I noticed that they seemed to avoid the Major Labs I know about in Europe," David noted. "Are they doing the same over here?"

"We don't have Major Labs in the same way most countries do. Not since what happened in Toronto," Josh told him bitterly. Travin waved his ward to silence. The older man was staring at the screen intently. He glanced over at Marc, who was also leaning forward now with a frown on his face.

"Labs," Marc said simply, glancing at Stephanie for confirmation. She nodded.

"Not the new Lab network, the old one," Travin agreed. "Every serious incident in Canada is within thirty miles of a minor Lab that was abandoned during the war - most of them after Marc..."

"After I was captured," Marc finished grimly.

Stephanie nodded. "I thought they might be. It's the same in Britain - and everywhere else I know to look." She looked around the room. "Does anyone want to speculate why?"

"Surely location shouldn't make that much difference to a Tomorrow Person?" David asked with a frown.

Sophie raised a hand. "Communications. If Jimmy's trying to keep track of these things without showing his face, he'll need to have the resources to monitor them - and to step in with matter transporters if something goes wrong. Most of our devices draw power from the nearest Lab - either that or they need large power packs. Even if he didn't need to have something in reserve, he couldn't get away with bouncing that much communications traffic through the inter-Lab system. Either the nearest Lab would notice, or my own people would. He has to set up a temporary base close to any riot or protest he wants to organise. Given how impossible we've found it to track his email and phone calls, I guess he's using another minor Lab as a home base. He'd need that class of computer system."

"So, an abandoned minor Lab in Europe," Ben summarised. "That's still a big field, Steph."

Roger moved towards the room's link table, interfacing with it telepathically. "I'm pulling up a list of possibilities now."

"We must be able to narrow it down further," Stephanie said, shaking her head. "Think."

"Stephanie." Roger looked up from what he was doing with a frown. "You spoke to Jimmy earlier. Did he say anything that might give us a hint?"

She shook her head, frustrated. "I've been over every word a hundred times in my mind. I can't see a thing."

Marc blinked, realisation hitting him. "Steph, you used Abby's private line for that call, didn't you?" She nodded and he sighed. "Wait here." They waited in silence as Marc left the room. He returned a few minutes later with a data-chip in his hand. He placed it on the room's link table, and the screen lit with the same incoming call message that Stephanie had seen before. "Abby's business lines are recorded automatically," Marc told them all, looking rather shamefaced. "They're traced too, but the tracing on this one failed."

"Isn't that just a little illegal?" Josh asked grinning.

"I think I can leave my policeman's hat to one side for the moment," Roger told him with a smile. "Just play the message, Marc."

They listened carefully, applying their analytic minds to the conversation, even as they winced to hear the words. Eventually though, Ben sighed. "There's nothing there. He was watching every word."

"Wait," David said abruptly. "Can you bring up the background noises - tune out the words entirely?"

Sophie stood and moved across the room, displacing Marc at the link table. "This is more my field than yours, I think." Computer programmes flew across the screen, copying and modifying the sound file. Eventually a quiet murmur sounded from the speakers, becoming louder and more distinct as Sophie enhanced it.

"A mechanical sound," David deduced.

Stephanie nodded. "It's a Lab's air circulation system. After so many years we don't even hear it any more." She frowned, concentrating. A childhood with three motor-enthusiast older brothers had given her more insight into the technological aspects of running a Lab than most Tomorrow People. "It's an old system too."

"What do you mean?" Ben asked, frowning.

"Luna taught us a lot about efficiency and ventilation. Over the years Lab technology has evolved. Newer systems run at a different frequency - they have a more rapid duty cycle."

"How distinctive are these different systems?" David asked intently. "And was there only one big change?" He looked at their blank faces. "Can we work out when the Lab was abandoned by this sound?" he clarified.

Stephanie smiled, pleased by the progress they were making. "Let's see, shall we?"

*****

David strapped himself into his bullet-proof jacket and surveyed his team. They were hand-picked, the eight best and most trusted agents he could call upon. He had called in old loyalties, and stretched his jurisdiction to the limit, to get the people he had wanted. And they still looked uneasy.

"Sir." One of the men looked with disdain at the stungun Cole had just handed to him. Around his wrist was the chunky bracelet of a matter transporter band, its vivid colours a striking contrast against the dark monotone of his combat gear. "Can I please confirm this? We're raiding a TP Lab? With a TP team in tow."

Cole and Stephanie exchanged a quick look, their concentration momentarily on one another. Stephanie suppressed a grin, and both Roger and Cole nodded, before Stephanie turned to the soldier. "I think you'll find you're the ones being towed."

David frowned, knowing that anyone less accustomed to spending time with Tomorrow People would have missed the rapid exchange between Stephanie and her people. He gritted his teeth. Rebuking Stephanie for teasing his men would do more harm than good. The Tomorrow People had been reluctant enough to permit a Sap presence on this mission. He could live with a little friction between the two groups as long as it didn't affect the mission.

"We know that this group is holding hostages," he told his men what he had told the Tomorrow People. "But we don't know where in the Lab they are, or how many people are in the group. Our job is to deal with the dissident group. The other team will concentrate on getting the hostages clear."

Stephanie nodded, stepping to David's side. Her tone became formal and brisk.

"As far as we know, everyone in the Lab is a Tomorrow Person. We don't expect to encounter lethal weapons, but - even if we do - we will not permit anyone here to carry them. These people may be misguided, but we don't want them annihilated."

"And we're meant to use these to defend ourselves?" another man asked, waving his stungun. David caught the man's wrist, forcing it downwards so the gun's emitter was pointing towards the floor.

"Have you never been taught even the slightest gun discipline?" he demanded. "That is not a toy."

Stephanie lifted her own stungun from her belt and pointed it towards the group of Sap agents in one smooth gesture. They tensed, each of them automatically readying themselves for action. Stephanie nodded, as if satisfied. "So you do recognise the danger." She shifted her poise so the gun was pointed towards a wall. They were gathered inside a Lab, although even David had no idea where in the world they might be. The place had been empty when they arrived. Stephanie and the others had called ahead to distribute equipment and make final arrangements. Now Stephanie briefed David's men with a note of command in her tones.

"We've given each of you a standard stungun. They have a range of a few metres, and an opening angle of about thirty degrees. Any person within that field will be incapacitated - a form of paralysis of the voluntary muscle groups. Caveats: recovery time varies from minutes to hours depending on the person, their mass, health, and proximity to the centre of the beam. The beam is primarily electromagnetic - so don't fire at reflective surfaces - but can be stopped by solid inert objects, so seek cover if fired upon. Certain projected fields can nullify a stungun beam, but since we're expecting our opponents to be armed with standard stunguns themselves, we don't expect to encounter those. My team and I will be carrying slightly longer range stunguns, and a stun grenade or two as well." She paused, thoughtfully. "I think that's about all you need to know about the guns."

A soldier raised his hand. "Do they need reloading, Ma'am? What do we do if one jams?" All the banter was gone from the man's voice now. His expression was intent and focused on the mission.

Stephanie nodded, accepting the validity of the questions. "They do need occasional recharging, yes. But unless we encounter an entire army, that shouldn't be an issue today. A stungun can't 'jam' in the same way as a conventional gun. If one stops working, just put it away. There's nothing in there that one of you will be able to fix." She said it completely without any implied criticism. Looking around, she satisfied herself that there were no further questions. "All right. Now, the matter transporters. You each have a matter transporter around your wrist - don't try and remove it. A lot of Labs, including both this one and our target, are very difficult to access by conventional means. The bands are set to return you here. They'll do so if you press two opposite sides of the square buckle at once. Or they'll return you if you lose consciousness for any reason. Or if either Major Barton or I activate a recall switch."

David blinked, startled, and Stephanie nodded at him. "David, your matter transporter has a recall option too, but it's on a different circuit. We may need your help after your men have finished their task."

David nodded, aware that she was watching her words carefully in front of the Saps. The preparation for this raid had been a whirlwind of activity. As the clues had combined, each had narrowed the field. Stephanie had pulled up the technical specs of the Lab systems and rapidly cross-referenced them against the recording, corrected by Sophie for distortion and the echoes of any enclosed space. The resulting match had narrowed the field considerably, and the combined knowledge of the group had narrowed it still further. Some Labs had been ruled out for being too close to Major Labs, others had been inspected within the last few months - either as part of the Tomorrow People's ongoing effort to audit their population and resources, or to ensure the safety of the abandoned structures. Others had been ruled out for being too close to the Labs that had replaced them, or too difficult to defend. Many of the older Labs, which would have been suitably equipped, also had ground level entrances that were poorly concealed and easy to find by modern standards. None of the leading TPs doubted that their former head of security would find them wildly insecure.

The few Labs remaining on the list had been subjected to closer scrutiny. The computer systems in a couple had responded to an electronic 'hello' sent via the old channels TIM had once used, reporting that they had been dormant since their residents had fled in the darkest of times. Others had remained silent, and those the Tomorrow People had scanned from space, using the few watchdog satellites that the Alliance had permitted them to keep in order to maintain inter-Lab communications. They had looked first for recent traces of psionic energy and then for thermal energy from the Lab itself. Only one Lab had stood out from the rest, and even then it was not for the abnormality of the readings, but rather for their sheer normality. Each reading had been right on the mean, showing none of the variation that might be expected over time, or from its natural environment. If they hadn't been looking for it they wouldn't have noticed, but when their third scan showed identical readings to the first, their suspicion had been aroused.

And so the team had been assembled, Tomorrow People and Saps together. At first Stephanie had argued that there was no need for more Saps to become involved. In the end it was her old loyalty to Jimmy himself that had brought her around. Despite everything that had happened, none of his friends were keen to see Jimmy exposed to public scrutiny. Hiding secrets amongst Tomorrow People was difficult at best. Saps, sworn to secrecy by David, on the other hand, were less liable to leak information into a community which was defined by communication.

Nonetheless there was tension in the air as David rejoined the TP group, leaving his team studying the plans for the Lab. "Are you sure about this?" he asked quietly.

Josh grinned at David, but it was a nervous grin. "Having second thoughts?"

"And third, and fourth, and fifth." Stephanie answered before David could. "But we're going in."

She scanned the faces around her. Ben, Roger and Cole looked serious, with intent expressions that matched her own. A mission of this kind was nothing new to this group. Josh and Travin had settled less easily into their roles. The tail end of the secret war had given both experience of the sort of mission that was routine to their companions, but not enough to make them comfortable with the danger. There had been no question of their staying behind though. Travin had summoned a medical kit to his side telekinetically without a word, reminding them that they would need a doctor when they found the girls if not sooner. Josh had just thrust out his chin stubbornly, reminding them that he had stood with them before. Jimmy had betrayed his trust as completely as that of any of the others.

Of them all, Marc was closest to being a civilian. While he had led his people - first in the Labs, then the Camps and recently in a more general sense through his work with the Novus Committee - he had never been involved in an attack as direct as this raid. Only David had tried to point this out, tentatively suggesting that Marc stay with Sophie and Zoë while the others left. He had been met by a look more full of hostility than any he had seen from his former captive since they had left the Camp.

"My wife is in there, David," Marc had told him simply. "And so are two of her closest friends. Whatever happens, I need to be there to see it."

Stephanie sighed, mentally running through possible scenarios for the hundredth time. (Cole, Ben, you take point,) she ordered. (Josh, you and Travin next. Then Marc and I. Roger, you stay close to David and keep in touch with the Saps if you can. I'm betting that Jimmy will be in the main control room - or close to it - so our aim is to get past whatever guards Jimmy's set, not through them. We jaunt where we have to - wherever we see a threat. We'll leave Jimmy's people for David and his team - we have other priorities.) She sighed. (We will almost certainly get separated, but we all know where we're heading. Keep in touch.) She unhooked a small box from her belt and, turning to David, handed it to him. "David, this is the recall button I mentioned. Just flip open the lid and press the button inside to whisk all your team back here." She handed him a small microphone too. "A communicator. In case you lose touch with us and we need to find you again." She took one last look around the room. "Let's go."

******

Part Seven:

The corridor was dark and cold. Its metal-clad walls were bare and stark in their uniformity. Only the distant murmur of machinery broke the illusion of total lifelessness. The undulating sound of overlapping jaunts echoed like a thunderclap through the hollow shell of the empty Lab. Stephanie's breath hissed through her gritted teeth as she listened to the reverberations. It was too much to hope that they would make it to the control room undetected, but this felt like a little too much unnecessary advertising.

Ben and Cole were drifting down the corridor, their eyes flicking from side to side as they went. The others followed them, moving as quickly and silently as they knew how. They paused at the next large junction, glancing down the three corridors that met their own. With a nod of acknowledgement for Stephanie, the Saps deployed as planned, moving off along the corridors in three groups.

So far so good, Stephanie thought to herself. This Lab had once been a decent size. Three levels of rooms had housed perhaps a hundred Tomorrow People in a compact miniature version of a much larger base. It was not clear quite why the Tomorrow People here had left their homes; whether the destruction of their nearby Major Lab had left them feeling vulnerable, or whether there had been an actual threat to their security. In any case, the place had drifted into the mists of history, the legacy of old fear leaving it disused even now. Or officially so, at least.

They had jaunted into the level below the control room, not taking any of the more obvious approach routes. From here the Saps could take any of a number of shafts and stairways up through the small complex, coming up behind any people Jimmy had assigned to watch the main corridors. But that was David's operation, not hers. Roger and David themselves glanced back as they faded from view and along the dimly lit corridors. Stephanie watched them go, her eyes on Roger's back, before shaking herself.

"We jaunt directly upwards into the corridor above us," she said quietly, reminding the others of the plan. "It feels empty to me, but remember to concentrate on keeping your jaunts quiet. All right?" She looked around, counting the nods. "Go."

The world shifted about them, a brief flash of hyperspace passing by too rapidly for them to absorb. The walls that replaced it were grey still, but these were brightly lit, and the air here was fresher, more recently stirred into motion. Immediately the more experienced agents amongst them fanned out, scanning their surroundings. Stephanie looked between them, acknowledging their quick nods. The group was as secure as any could be, standing in full view of four corridors. With a nod of her head, Stephanie signalled for Cole to take the lead. He led the group two metres down one of the passages before signalling for a halt. Without a word, telepathic or otherwise, Ben and Cole eased forwards, pressed to either side of the corridor as they approached a door, which opened from it. Stungun in hand, Cole swiped his hand over the door release mechanism, allowing Ben to glance quickly into the room beyond. With a quick gesture, Ben looked from side to side, before lowering his weapon to point at the floor and stepping inside to give the room a fuller examination.

Cole watched for his friend's nod, and then passed it back to Stephanie, refocusing his attention to scan the corridor as Stephanie herded Travin, Josh and Marc past him. He slipped in behind them, closing the door to protect them from premature discovery.

Like any community, a Lab needed its common areas. Local communities could flourish even in such a confined space - centred around small common rooms like this one. And of course, wherever Tomorrow People gathered together, there were link tables.

Travin and Marc moved towards this one, telekinetically urging it to wake from dormancy. Its surface lit immediately, glowing softly as they pressed the palms of their hands against its warm surface. The two men focused, probing the connection this device had to the network around it, trying to establish what it could tell them.

Stephanie waited impatiently. This stop for information gathering had been a vital part of their plan. Facing a Lab shielded from outside surveillance, and cut off from the inter-Lab network, they had been forced to plan their initial sortie on the basis of the Lab blueprints and a few logical deductions alone. To go further without more solid information would be chancy, and this wasn't a mission any of them were prepared to risk. Nonetheless, Stephanie fretted at the delay, even as she scanned the room for anything that might give away their presence.

"The internal monitors are password locked," Marc spoke softly, but they all jumped at the sound. "We're not going to be able to get to them without alerting Jimmy."

"But we can access the power monitoring and environmental systems," Travin added as Stephanie sighed. He frowned. "The control room is drawing a lot of power, and there are hotspots of usage all over this level of the Lab."

"Show me," Stephanie ordered.

A display of the Lab appeared on the room's viewscreen, coloured lights highlighting regions of thermal energy or high power usage. Mentally, Stephanie compared the pattern to the blueprints of the Lab she had studied earlier. As she had more than half expected, the well-lit main corridors of the Lab showed as brilliant strands of power centring on the control room. Various private rooms on this floor were pale beads, their devices and systems on standby as their residents were elsewhere. Brighter beads encircled the Lab, marking the equipment in use by Jimmy's staff at the current time. Stephanie frowned, realising that there were fewer than she had expected, and her expression softened. She should have guessed that Jimmy wouldn't risk Abigail by placing her in the presence of any but his most trusted personnel. Taking a deep breath, she focused on tightening her mental defences still further before cracking them open to broadcast a narrow shaft of thought.

(Roger?)

She dumped the image in front of her into his mind, and felt a quick thought of acknowledgement from him before he broke the mental link between them. Stephanie held her breath for a long moment. With Jimmy so attuned to their minds, they had been guarding each and every thought. Slowly, Stephanie released her breath in a sigh. This minor breach of telepathic silence appeared to have gone unnoticed.

She turned back to the viewscreen with a frown. "Any hint of where he might be keeping Abby and Kershia?"

"What's that?" Josh asked suddenly, his voice low but urgent. He pointed to a hotspot of both power usage and thermal energy adjacent to the main control area. "Wasn't that a store room on the blueprints we looked at?"

"He's right," Marc said. He clenched his fists. "That must be where they're holding Abby." He braced himself as if ready to jaunt, but Josh took his arm to stop him. He joined Ben and Cole as they looked to Stephanie for orders, ignoring Marc's frustrated exclamation.

"Most likely that's true," Stephanie told him, her tone sharp, "and it's useful to know. But we have to be sure." She peered again at the map and stabbed a finger at a dark region opening from the control room, diagonally opposite the room Josh had noted. "That is also meant to be a store room and there is no sign of activity there. We jaunt to there and listen - both with our ears and with our minds. If we hear nothing to dissuade us then we act. Travin - you, Marc, Josh and Ben jaunt into the opposite room. Cole - you and I go for the control room. We'll put a stun grenade in the corner of it, and that should immobilise anyone there for a few seconds at least."

The whine of a stungun cut through her final words, its high-pitched tones loud in the stillness of the Lab. The sound reverberated, echoing up and down the corridors until its origin was lost in an aural maze.

The Tomorrow People jaunted as one unit, re-emerging into darkness and cold. There was precious little space in the store room, even with the shelving units barren and unoccupied. Sirens sounded in the room beyond. Disoriented by the darkness and sudden noise, Marc stumbled as he tried to step towards the door, falling against a stack of shelves with a clatter loud even above the alarm. Stephanie and the others didn't hesitate. Ben pulled Marc back to his feet with a quick motion, jaunting with him before Marc even had time to regain his balance. The rest of them followed on the same thought - their earlier caution forgotten.

Now was the time for action.

*******

Jimmy heard the mental shout of consternation from one of his men a moment before the Lab's intruder alarms split the air. At once he was on his feet, stungun in hand.

"Back against the wall!" he ordered. The Sap nurse moved with a whimper, overturning her chair in her haste to comply.

With an anxious look at the still forms of his friends, Jimmy stepped to the door of the room, opening it with a burst of telekinesis. Stephanie, it had to be! The moment he concentrated on her mind, he felt her presence nearby, but here? Now? So quickly? Did she know he was responsible? How could she not? Somewhere inside a voice taunted him with his incompetence in letting her find him. He shook his head in frustration, but despite the arguments from within, his thoughts were tinged with pride in his former second in command. He should have expected this.

Jimmy stood in the doorway between the control room and his makeshift hospital, one foot in each room, his eyes flicking from his unconscious charges to the Lab's status displays. "What's going on?"

Any chance of working it out was lost in a flash of light and a shimmer of noise. Jimmy squinted, staggered by the fringes of the stun blast and half-blinded by the brilliance. His finger tightened automatically on the trigger stud of his stungun, but he controlled the urge to fire randomly, blinking in an attempt to clear his dazzled vision.

(Drop the gun, Jimmy!) Stephanie's order rang through Jimmy's mind before he could do more than gasp in astonishment. (Come out into the control room.) Still reacting on instinct, he spun back to Kershia and Abigail, his stungun still in his hands.

The weapon was torn from his grip by a surge of telekinesis, and Jimmy recognised the mind behind it.

"Marc, I... "

Jimmy's voice trailed off wordlessly. His vision was clearing now. To one side, Stephanie covered him with a stungun, its emitter as steady as it would be if she was facing down any Sap aggressor. On the other side stood Cole. He mirrored her stance silently, stungun drawn and ready to use.

In the smaller side room, between Jimmy and his victims, Ben stood squarely in guard, and behind that protective presence Marc cradled Abby's still form against his chest. Travin hovered between the two women, checking readings and letting his mind brush theirs in an effort to sense their conditions. Josh was covering the nurse with his own gun, his gaze constantly drifting between the faces of the shocked woman and his friends.

Marc looked up, bitterness filling his expression. "You know, I'm not really interested in explanations just now, Jimmy."

"Travin?" Stephanie loaded the name with questions.

"They've been drugged." Travin called out as he worked, his tone cold. "Pulses strong. Breathing regular. I think they'll be fine, but I need to get them back to somewhere I can monitor them properly before I try to bring them round."

"I wouldn't hurt them!" Jimmy's exclamation was lost beneath a loud sob from the nurse he had kidnapped. She had been standing with her back pressed against the wall, her eyes glued to Josh's gun as if looking away would cause it to fire at once. Now she stole a glance at Travin, her chest heaving with suppressed tears.

"Please ... you're a doctor?" Her voice was hoarse and terrified. She looked from Josh to Jimmy before turning back desperately to Travin. "Please, don't let them hurt me. He made me.... They're not hurt... I took care. Please just let me go."

There was a moment of horrified silence before Josh holstered his gun in one swift motion. He shot Jimmy a filthy look.

(Is this what you're reduced to?)

Travin waved the woman forward. "Tell me what you gave them," he told her shortly, but his reassuring tone was at odds with his abrupt words.

"You can't trust her!" Jimmy's protest had no visible effect on Travin as he listened carefully to her list of chemical names and dosages. Jimmy turned back to Stephanie, his expression desperate. He took a few steps toward her, coming fully into the control room now in his effort to make her understand. "She's a Sap. Stephanie, you can't trust her! We can't trust any of them." He hesitated as Roger and David entered the room, their stunguns drawn and scanning the room for targets. The two newcomers paused, taking in the silent tableau. Stephanie and Cole stood ready, their weapons still trained on Jimmy. Behind him, through the doorway, the others were visible, their attention split between the captives and the scene outside.

"Is she all right?" David demanded at once.

"Yes," Travin told him. "But we're taking them back home."

Travin and Marc jaunted in a shimmer of mental energy, taking the still unconscious women with them. David took a deep breath, his fists clenched by his side. When he moved, he moved quickly, closing the gap between himself and Jimmy within moments. His fist connected with the younger man's jaw with a force that threw Jimmy back against the nearest link table. Stephanie and Roger stepped forward immediately, reaching out to seize David's arms. He trembled with suppressed fury under Stephanie's grasp, but David did not attempt to shake her off.

Jimmy was doubled over the link table by the force of the blow. He pushed himself upright, looking bitterly at David before turning to Stephanie. "And you wonder why I can't trust them? Look at him, Stephanie. Look at all of them. The Saps are biding their time - waiting for us to become weak. They're waiting for us to fall asleep and forget all they've done to us. Do you really think they're prepared to share this world with us? They're putting a brave face on it because they have to - because the Alliance forces them to! How long can they live with that before the violence shows through? Steph, we can't let them win. They want us dead! Don't you see that? They want to kill us all!"

"God, Jimmy," Ben's voice was low and dismayed. "Can't you hear yourself? Can't you hear the paranoia?"

That word again, making Jimmy flinch. They all caught the flash of memory, Kershia accusing him of that same affliction. Stephanie's breath caught in her throat. She tried instinctively to reach Jimmy's mind with comfort - knowing, as no one else here did, why the word affected him so deeply - but his mental shields were once again a brick wall between them. She shook her head sadly.

"Jimmy, let us help you. Let's talk about this, please?"

Jimmy hesitated, caught between fight and flight. Somewhere inside, voices shouted at him that there was no choice here.

-- You're weak, Jimmy. Your indecision proves that. You'll surrender and it will all have been for nothing. You don't have the strength to resist. It was your weakness that let us die. --

He flinched back from the taunts, and yet, he heard the compassion in Stephanie's tone and hesitated. Then he saw her hand on David's arm and the memory of her voice faded away, lost amid the cacophony.

-- She sold you out, Jimmy. She's working with them, now. She trusts the Saps. --

He had made himself a promise that he would never do that. What more was there to say? His decision was made. All that remained was to jaunt clear and salvage his work for another day, before Stephanie resolved to act decisively. And yet, his own thoughts struggled to make themselves heard, if he left now, all this would have been for nothing. He would never have another chance to convince his friends. He would never recover their trust. He had to persuade them - somehow. He shook his head, more in confusion than refusal.

David broke the moment.

"Stun him," he snapped, "and let's get going."

Stephanie shook her head, tearing her gaze from Jimmy's face.

"We'll hear him out," she said firmly. "Jimmy's earned that much from us, at least."

David wrenched his arm from Stephanie's grip and stalked away from the centre of the room. Leaning back against a bank of computer processors, he crossed his arms, his watchful eyes on Jimmy. During the altercation, Ben and Josh had slipped out of the side room where the unconscious captives had been kept, and into the control chamber. The nurse came with them, clinging to the wall as if it could provide her some protection. She ended up close to David, desperate to trust someone and fixing on the man who had struck her captor. He glanced at her, accepting her presence, then dismissing it from his conscious thought.

Stephanie sighed, looking around at the troubled expressions of her friends. "The Lab's secure?" she asked Roger, in an effort to give herself time to think.

Roger nodded briefly. "We stunned half a dozen of Jimmy's people. Knowing where they were made it simple." He made as if to holster his stungun, but a slight shake of Stephanie's head was enough to check the motion. Roger's gun hand steadied, directing the emitter once more in Jimmy's general direction if not exactly at him, before he finished his report. "We've sent them all back to the Lab - our Lab. David's team are checking that we've not missed anyone, and watching for any new arrivals."

Jimmy's eyes widened, the confusion and dismay fading behind a look of fury. He had been weakening, forgetting that this was a struggle for survival. "David's team? Saps? You brought Saps into my Lab?"

"You had Abby and Kershia!" Josh exclaimed. Stephanie stilled him with a thought. She kept her voice calm, knowing that Jimmy was hovering on the edge of reason and needed no further impetus to lose control.

"We did what we needed to bring them home, Jimmy," she said calmly. Her voice trailed off as she continued, knowing her next words were untrue. "You'd have done the same in my place."

Jimmy stared at her, and Stephanie felt as if an impenetrable wall had come down between the two of them. She would never understand what was going on behind his steel grey eyes, just as he would never understand her decisions. Her thoughts were swept aside as she saw his eyes flash brightly and felt the surge of mental energy.

"What did you do?" Josh demanded, wide-eyed.

Sirens filled the room even as he spoke, making the air vibrate with their throbbing urgency. Flashing lights strobed across their faces, and they squinted against the brightness. Gasping, Stephanie shook her head in stunned disbelief. Her hand flew to her belt, pressing the recall button that would whisk David's people to safety.

"I'm not going to let you destroy everything I've built up," Jimmy said. His voice was utterly calm and focused. "I'm not going to leave you the computers here. You have forty-five seconds. There's machinery behind every surface here and all of it's all rigged to build up power. First it'll strain, and then the heat will overflow, and then this Lab's going to blow." He looked around at the sea of faces, trying to see his friends' images amongst those of the strangers who suddenly filled the room. "Hadn't you better get out of here? All of you?"

Confused by his manner, but knowing that time was running out, Stephanie raised her stungun, and felt rather than saw the other Tomorrow People in the room do the same. "Jimmy, we can't let you go. If you run now, we will track you down. You know that."

Jimmy nodded as if he were still undecided. He had to play for time - if he could just force them to jaunt to safety before he did...

His friends waited for him to make his choice, willing to give him one last chance to make the right decision. David watched, his anger and dislike for Jimmy warring with the grudging respect he felt for the other man.

The silence stretched out, ten seconds, fifteen, and Jimmy went through a thousand thoughts in each of them. If he went with them now he would be betraying the millions of people they were leading astray. But if he walked away, as the rational voice inside him cried out that he must, he would leave everything behind - Kershia, his friends, everything that made life worth living. Never again would he find comfort amongst them. Instead the friction that had built between him and the others would burst into open flame, the simmering anger hardening into fury, and perhaps one day hatred. He had never planned for this moment. He had been so sure of himself, so confident that Stephanie and the others wouldn't see through his ruse. As hard as the decision to take Abby had been, it had never occurred to him that it could lead to this.

"I don't understand, Jimmy," pleaded Stephanie in desperation as the seconds slipped away. "You don't have to do this. Come with us. We'll get you help."

Help? Jimmy's mind echoed her confusion, refusing to grasp the concept. He looked up, stealing the time to study the faces of his friends one last time. There was only one possible decision, and he had made it. His people were at war, their lives in danger every moment that the Saps remained in power. He couldn't abandon the fight for their freedom. Already there was a slight whine in the air, and the whispers came again - reminding him how little time remained as the Lab systems built towards overload - but still he hesitated. His eyes slid from Ben, to Cole, to Roger, Stephanie and young Josh, looking past their stunguns and to their tense, anxious faces. Any moment now, they would realise that he had made his choice, and if he didn't jaunt first, it would count for nothing.

Nonetheless, with just twenty seconds remaining before every system in the Lab built to a carefully controlled overload, his gaze slid onwards to David. As always the spectre of Kershia hung between them, but now she seemed almost solid. He could see the highlights in her dark brown hair, the mischievous smile that he knew so well playing on her lips, but her face remained out of focus - as if she stood just beyond his reach. She believed that she had made her choice, and yet Jimmy knew that with him out of her life, it would be David that she turned to for comfort. And oddly, if Jimmy had to trust one person, Sap or TP, with that burden, he wouldn't choose differently. He blinked, trying to clear his vision. Kershia lay safely unconscious in some distant Lab. Her image faded as Jimmy focused on that knowledge, revealing the Sap it had all but concealed. David was watching Jimmy, his expression lost in the glow of heat and light from the computer bank behind him.

Glow? His eyes flicked to the other walls, seeing no evidence of the tightly controlled self-destruct, before returning to that one computer bank. There shouldn't be a glow - not yet!

For once there was no doubt, no conflict, in Jimmy's mind. Lives were in danger, and it didn't matter whether they were Sap or TP. All that mattered was that he was a good man.

He reacted instantly, throwing himself towards the Sap. Five stun beams hit him at once, but his momentum carried him onwards nonetheless. David staggered backwards as Jimmy's unconscious weight cannoned into him, knocking him into the nurse. Thrown off balance, David spun to catch the woman, cushioning her fall as they rolled away from the impact.

"What - ?"

The blast hit Jimmy with its full force. For an instant he was silhouetted against the fireball from the premature overload, and then the light became blinding, forcing them to look away.

Terror and fire filled the enclosed world as the ruins of the processor bank crashed down, missing David and the nurse by inches. Flames roared from the wreckage, carrying with them the acrid, stinging smoke of scorched electronics.

David coughed and choked, stunned by the sudden blast. Through smoke-reddened eyes he stared at the ruin of the computer console, trying to make sense of the scene. "Jimmy?" he whispered the name at first, unable even to hear himself above the roar of flames. He turned back to the others, desperate to be told that he was wrong, that - somehow - Jimmy had got clear.

Stephanie's scream and the cries of the men had been lost among the reverberations of the explosion. Now their ears rang with the after-effects, and yet that pain seemed swept away into the great roaring emptiness that threatened to engulf them all.

Ben and Cole stared into nothing, their stunguns falling, forgotten, from their hands. Stephanie staggered backwards into Roger's arms and he embraced her mechanically, both of them too numb even to feel one another's touch. Josh just stood with his face in his hands, rocking backwards and forwards on his heels as if he were a frightened child.

David stared into Stephanie's shocked eyes and knew that he would never feel what she was feeling now. His closed Sap mind could barely imagine the gulf that had opened up inside the TPs, tearing a deep hole in the fabric of their worlds. Realising that his companions were incapacitated, he turned back to the flames before him. "No!" he shook his head in denial. Whatever his differences with Jimmy, no one deserved this.

David scrambled to his feet. In one quick motion he pulled the nurse upright, snapping the matter transporter from his own wrist onto hers and spinning her into Josh's arms. The young man caught her automatically, his face a dazed mask. "Jaunt!" David screamed at him.

Josh reacted to the voice of command, vanishing in a shimmer of sound and light and taking the woman with him. David didn't watch him go, but moved instead through a world that was suddenly an inferno. The walls were glowing a fiery umber now, the machinery behind all of them building power steadily in preparation for the self-destruct Jimmy had initiated. The ever-moving reflections of flame cast a diabolic light on David's features as he tugged at the wreckage.

He cried out, the red hot metal eating into his hands, and he cried out again when Stephanie caught his shoulders, pulling him away.

"He's gone," her voice choked on the words and David tried not to hear the certainty in them.

"I can pull him...his body...free. We can't just leave - "

Stephanie snapped a new matter transporter band around his wrist, cutting off his protest. Tears streaked the grey ash on her cheeks.

"He's gone," she repeated softly. "There's nothing left that matters. And we're out of time."

The world filled with fire around them.

*****

Part Eight:

Abby dreamed of a stormy sea. Waves towered around her, their grey bulk reflecting the lightning-shot sky. Icy spray chilled her to the bone, and she struggled to stay afloat as the tempestuous waters threatened to engulf her in their fathomless depths.

(Abby?)

Thunder shook the heavens, leaving her ears ringing with pain. The ocean swelled around her, forming a swirling vortex. She circled its edge, balancing on the edge of the yawning emptiness within.

(Abby?)

The clouds parted, a ray of sunlight streaming between them. Words floated on the beam of light: her name, repeated time and time again. The sun bathed her in its warmth, lifting her free of the frigid ocean. She floated upwards towards the voice that called for her so warmly.

Abby woke sobbing, with her eyes wide with horror and pain. Marc held her, stroking her hair gently back from her face. There was no denial for a strong telepath - no gradual awakening to the reality of their loss. From the moment she regained consciousness Abigail knew that Jimmy had been taken from them, his presence torn from their minds. The hollow emptiness that remained within them was like a vacuum, sucking all the colour and light from the world.

Abby buried her face in Marc's shoulder, holding him tightly now as her strength returned. Gradually, the first wave of tears ebbed, leaving her tired and flushed. Marc felt her mind spilling outwards. Her thoughts washed through their house, sensing their friends assembled in the sitting room down below. No one had wanted to go home. No one wanted to be alone, now of all times. Suddenly she stiffened against him, and looked up into his red-rimmed eyes.

"Frances? Thomas?" she demanded frantically. "And where's Kershia? Oh God! Poor Kershia!"

Marc hushed her, stroking her cheek.

"The kids are with Emina," he told her immediately. His voice was hoarse and thick with tears. "They're fine." He hesitated, sighing. "Kershia's asleep still. We wanted to wake you first."

Abby relaxed against his chest, closing her eyes in grief and pain. "What happened?"

******

Evening sun cast its rich light over the garden of remembrance. The geometric shapes of the memorial cast long shadows across the seats that had been arrayed on its lawns.

Abby knew every line of the construct. She'd overseen the selection process for the final design, helping to synthesise the idealist whims of a dozen TP artists. This place was meant to symbolise their hope for the future, even as it remembered and honoured the darkest days of their past. Today all she could see was the marble edifice that was a tombstone for the thousands that they had lost over the long years.

Marc slipped his arm around her shoulders as they took their seats, and she allowed him to do so, not caring if she was showing weakness in front of the millions watching. Around her, her friends sat in a tight block. They had jaunted en masse straight from Abby and Marc's house. The eyes of the leading Tomorrow People were reddened with grief, their faces still pale and shocked even after three hours had passed. There was no pretence that all was well; how could there be?

Kershia sat in their midst, but alone nonetheless. Her brown eyes were dazed and unfocused. She had retreated into some inner world, her mind closed to them all. David sat beside her, his presence there planned long ago as a sign of the Novus Committee's emphasis on cooperation. He had tried to comfort her, his words dying on his lips as she turned a blank, emotionless stare on him. Perhaps later she would be able to accept what little comfort he could offer. For now she simply ignored him, just as she ignored the anxious looks and thoughts from Abby and the others.

There was a sense of surrealism to the scene as the assembled religious leaders spoke of loss, and of comfort in pain. It seemed to Abby as if no more than a few hours had passed since she had been safe at home, with her husband and children asleep in their rooms. Now she sat with her silent friends, their wide eyes speaking eloquently of trauma. A sense of abstraction stayed with her as she stood, ready to make the speech she had prepared with such care.

She surveyed the assembled world leaders, the Alliance representative, and the hundred of others, Sap and TP alike. They stared back at her questioningly, troubled by the grief that was so apparent in her bearing and that of her companions. With sudden decisiveness, Abby set aside her rehearsed text. Who would believe her when she spoke of joy with tears in her voice? Sooner or later the news would escape. Better to control it.

"A friend of mine died today," Abby said quietly, ignoring the gasp that greeted her words. "So forgive me if I don't speak of how far we've come, and how much has been achieved. We are here today to remember all those who have lost their lives in the long struggle behind us - and I honour their memory while grieving their loss. But I do not wish to speak of that either. I must speak instead of the long and difficult road that lies ahead of us now. Peace isn't something that can be imposed from outside." She glanced apologetically at the Alliance representative. "It isn't something that drops from the sky. At best an outside power can impose a truce - an armistice even - but peace?" She shook her head. "No. Peace is something that has to come from within. It has to come from within a population, and from within the hearts of every person in it. It is something that must be sought, something for which each and every one of us must strive.

"I cannot pretend that doing so is easy. People are not automatons. Not everyone will pursue freedom from strife in the same way. Some of us will make decisions that are wrong, while believing them to be right and how can we say which those decisions are?" She felt tears pricking at her eyes. "Not everyone born Homo novus agrees with the decisions I have made on their behalf, any more than every Homo sapiens supports the decisions that have been taken by world leaders since our emergence. I cannot, and do not, despise them for that. But neither can I agree with them." She hesitated, looking at her friends, feeling their concentration on her words.

"Jimmy Harrison's opposition to the policies that the Tomorrow People have adopted was well known - or at least suspected - by the general public. His death was, in the end, an accident, but it's reminded me that life is precious and that life is complex. It's reminded me that we've become complacent, self-congratulatory, willing to believe that our hardest work lay behind us. We were wrong. Our hardest task is still to come. It will take many years for the uneasy truce that we've won with such pain to become a true peace.

"Trust cannot be conceived by decree, but rather must be earned by those on whom it is bestowed, and freely given by those who confer it. The history of our peoples is one of trust given and trust denied. For many years the Tomorrow People trusted blindly in their leaders. For many years we have hidden, too frightened to trust even friends and family, and mistrusted by them in turn. Those years are past. There is mutual trust to be earned here, and old grievances to be settled. It won't be easy. There will be disagreements, and there will be those who oppose the majority. There will be negotiation and compromise necessary from both sides. I think we knew that when we stood before you at our emergence; we just lost sight of it as the years slipped by."

She ran a hand over the black marble of the speaker's podium. The scarlet rays of the setting sun played across it, and across the rest of the memorial, reflected by pale highlights in the stone, and by the pools of water that formed part of the structure. The entire edifice seemed to be tainted by the blood that had been shed during the long struggle. The reconciliation and remembrance service had been timed to catch this moment, the few minutes each day when the symbol of hope for the future also marked the sacrifices of the past. Abigail's voice was thick with unshed tears as she went on.

"On this day we gather to remember and honour the many thousands of people who lost their lives in a secret war. I do so, grieving for the hundreds of my friends who lost their lives in my own Lab, as well as for those I never knew. But I ask that we remember too those who have died in the years since the war ended - and those who will do so in the years to come, unless we work now to prevent it. And it can be prevented, if the understanding and the will are there - have no doubt of that.

"A wondrous future lies before the people of this planet. The Alliance has given us time to think, and time to realise what it will take. We have paid the price for that realisation, in the lives of all those we have lost - TP and Sap alike. Now it is up to each and every one of us to reach out for that future. To reach out for the peace that lies within our grasp."

The End