His straight black eyebrows pulled together and up in the middle over his wide eyes. “Please,” he whispered.

I glanced at Jeb. I thought that maybe he was peeking from between his lashes now, but I couldn’t be sure.

My voice was soft as breathing. “Someone saw her go into a place that was off-limits. They knew something was wrong. They called the Seekers.”

He flinched at the title.

“The Seekers tried to get her to surrender. She ran from them. When they had her cornered, she jumped into an open elevator shaft.”

I recoiled from the memory of pain, and Jamie’s face went white under his tan.

“She didn’t die?” he whispered.

“No. We have very skilled Healers. They mended her quickly. Then they put me in her. They hoped I would be able to tell them how she had survived so long.” I had not meant to say so much; my mouth snapped shut. Jamie didn’t seem to notice my slip, but Jeb’s eyes opened slowly and fixed on my face. No other part of him moved, and Jamie didn’t see the change.

“Why didn’t you let her die?” he asked. He had to swallow hard; a sob was threatening in his voice. This was all the more painful to hear because it was not the sound a child makes, frightened of the unknown, but the fully comprehending agony of an adult. It was so hard not to reach out and put my hand on his cheek. I wanted to hug him to me and beg him not to be sad. I curled my hands into fists and tried to concentrate on his question. Jeb’s eyes flickered to my hands and back to my face.

“I wasn’t in on the decision,” I murmured. “I was still in a hibernation tank in deep space when that happened.”

Jamie blinked again in surprise. My answer was nothing he’d expected, and I could see him struggling with some new emotion. I glanced at Jeb; his eyes were bright with curiosity.

The same curiosity, though more wary, won out with Jamie. “Where were you coming from?” he asked.

In spite of myself, I smiled at his unwilling interest. “Far away. Another planet.”

“What was —” he started to ask, but he was interrupted by another question.

“What the hell?” Jared shouted at us, frozen with fury in the act of rounding the corner at the end of the tunnel. “Damn it, Jeb! We agreed not to —”

Jamie wrenched himself upright. “Jeb didn’t bring me here. But you should have.”

Jeb sighed and got slowly to his feet. As he did so, the gun rolled from his lap onto the floor. It stopped only a few inches from me. I scooted away, uncomfortable.