Epilogue

The Chosen witch joined the companions just after dusk at the new campsite the Foundation people set up that evening.

"My sister," Donovan said as a way of introduction when he brought her over to where Krysty sat on a sleeping bag. "Her name's Dora."

Ryan knew at once she was one of the Chosen from her style of dress and the distant look in her dark eyes. But she was lean and curved, surely no older than nineteen or twenty, pretty enough to turn the heads of men. "What's she going to do?" Ryan asked, his hand resting on the SIG-Sauer's butt.

Darkness fell all around them, complete and unforgiving. Rain clouds blotted out the moon and stars.

"She's going to withdraw the dead Chosen from Krysty's mind," Donovan said.

Dora knelt in front of Krysty and put her hands on the redhead's temples and began to chant in a low melodious voice. Krysty reached out and took Ryan's hand, squeezing it tightly.

Without warning, the two women propelled away from each other, both knocked backwards.

"It's done," Dora said, wiping bloody spittle from her mouth with the back of her hand. She glanced up at Donovan. "Remember our bargain, brother."

Donovan gave her a tight nod as he helped her to her feet.

Heart pounding with fear, Ryan glanced at Krysty.

She looked up at him. "It's true, lover," she said hoarsely. "Nobody in here now but me. All alone again. Thank Gaia." Then she slept.

Ryan held her hand while everyone left them alone together, and he held it for a very long time after that.

"AFTER SEEING how easily you open these redoubts," Donovan said the next morning, "there's people at the Foundation who aren't going to be too happy to know I let you go."

"We had a deal," Ryan reminded him.

"I know," Donovan said sourly. "But you didn't have all your cards on the table."

Ryan gave him a thin grin. "I never do."

"I guess this is goodbye, then. Unless I can talk you into coming up to the Foundation."

Ryan shook his head. Truth to tell, he'd like to see the place. "Mebbe another time."

"Still curious," Donovan said.

"What?"

"How you could know that you could trust me to let you go."

"Didn't trust you," Ryan said. "Trusted ourselves. During the raid on the pirates, Jak put a plas-ex bomb on the space-station section. If we'd needed it, there'd have been a way out." He left Donovan standing there with his mouth open. He stopped at the door of the redoubt and gave the man a brief salute before keying in the code to open the doors and disappearing inside.

Ryan made his way to the mat-trans and shut the door, automatically activating the sequence that would send them someplace else. After glancing around at the other companions who'd already prepared for the jump, he took a seat on the floor beside Krysty. The familiar fog lifted from the glowing metal plates and obscured the view through the colored armaglass. He turned his attention to his lover. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah, lover, and after things calm down at the other end of this jump, I'm going to show you just how much better I'm feeling." Krysty squeezed his hand.

Feeling the transfer blotting out his senses, Ryan closed his eye.