Becky shot through the door first, with Lori close on her heels, and they nearly bowled Eric over as they leaped into his outstretched arms. He swung them both around once, like sacks of flour under each arm, then dumped them on the bed, making them squeal with delight. In two quick steps he was to Stephanie and swung her off the floor too.

“Eric,” she laughed, “put me down.” He did, but only so he could encircle his mother with his other arm and squeeze them both.

“Hello, son,” Madeline Lloyd said with a huskiness in her voice. “Travis told us the news about your release. That’s wonderful.”

“Yeah, I suppose.”

Stephanie spoke up. “Travis said you’ll be trained for four weeks, and then you’ll get leave. We’ll be anxious to see you.”

He nodded, then turned and squatted down. “So what have my two favorite young ladies been up to?”

The girls came to him and put their arms around his neck, one sitting on each knee. “Oh, Ricky,” Lori said, “it’s so neat here. We went to the park yesterday, and they have swings—real swings, not just ropes and boards—and a slide, and teeter-totters, and a merry-go-round.” Her face wrinkled up with joy. “It’s so neat!”

“I got dizzy on the merry-go-round,” Becky said, holding her head and rolling her eyes around.

“Oh you did, did you?” Eric laughed.

“Yeah, and guess what, Ricky.” Her eyes were like two luminous brown saucers.

“What?”

“You can get ice cream here any time you want. Even in summer.”

“Really?” he said, giving her a look of serious doubt.

“Yes, real ice cream.”

Lori leaped off his knee and opened the blue metal door in the wall. “Oh look, Becky, Ricky has his own bathroom. And a shower too.” Becky jumped off his knee and followed her sister.

Eric stood up and turned to his mother. “Do they know about their implantation?”

“Yes, I’ve tried to explain it to them. I thought I’d better.”

“And?”

She looked down and bit her lower lip. “Yesterday, Becky jumped off the teeter-totter and let Lori clunk on the ground pretty hard. She flashed out at Becky, like any normal child would, and one second later she was writhing on the ground in pain.”

“Tell him about last night,” Stephanie said quietly, noting the fury in Eric’s eyes.

Madeline took a deep breath, then sighed. “About midnight, Lori woke up vomiting. At first I thought it was something she had eaten. But as nearly as we can figure, she had a dream about Billy Maddox. He was teasing her, as he usually did at school. In her dream she got so angry, she hit him.”

Eric stared at her. “You mean that even a dream can set this thing off?”

“Yes, if it’s real enough.”

“I can’t believe it.” He nearly turned to glare at the mirror, then caught himself.