She tore herself from his grasp, automatically bringing her fingers up to probe the punctured skin. The flesh was puckered, and she could feel something hard beneath. Despite the shock, it had hurt very little, and now the entire back of her neck felt numb, as if anaesthetized.

What the hell was that? she demanded, seeing him pocket a silver device with a needle-like nozzle at one end.

Youre a machine-head, he said. That makes you easy to track. But the inhibitor I just put in you should take care of that.

Damn you, Karl, What have you done to me? And why wont you answer my question? What makes you think you have the right to

Im trying to keep you alive, he rasped, hitting the release on the airlock door, his voice muffled by his breather mask.

There was a brief, powerful gust as the air pressure equalized with that of Redstones natural atmosphere. Even with the jacket over her robes, the shock of the freezing air directly against her skin made Gabrielles lungs cramp.

They were outside now, on the main deck, beads of rain sprinkling her neck and face where they werent covered by the breather mask. A wind from the sea flurried the tops of the waves, and it was so cold that she offered Karl no more resistance as he hauled her along.

Within moments she stood at the bow of the Grand Barge, looking over the railing at a much smaller vessel directly below them, which rose and fell with the motion of the waves.

Shouting filled the air, coming from behind. Something thundered overhead, and Gabrielle glanced up, catching sight of a security services flyer lifting from one of the barges upper decks and quickly vanishing into the night.

She had a sudden intuition regarding what Karl had in mind for them. She had pictured the pair of them roaring off into space on board some luxuriously appointed dropship, but that clearly wasnt what he had planned.

Karl glanced back along the main deck and, from his expression, Gabrielle could tell he was listening to someone over a Tabernacle link.

What is it? she asked.

Someones found the bodies, he replied tersely. And now theyre looking for us. Get ready to jump.

Gabrielle tried to frame a response, but by now her teeth were chattering so uncontrollably under her breather mask that it made it extraordinarily difficult to get any words out. No, she said at last. Not until you tell me whats going on. How can there possibly be a tidal wa

Now, Karl shouted, putting his arms around her waist, lifting her up and heaving her over the railing before she had a chance to resist.

She shrieked as she fell, hardly getting a chance to draw breath before she hit the water. The shock of the icy cold drove all other thoughts from her head.