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a discussion with the rest of the Allegiance Council. He then turned back to the compuscreen.
"We have no choice but to exile the woman& "
"Oh my god!" Alea yelled. "NO!"
"What's going on. I don't understand?" Sydney asked. The mind link with her Sh'em
dissolved after the tripling? She turned toward Calem and Arjim, her brows drawn into a deep
frown. You didn't tell me that!
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Again they frowned at her.
"For what we know, she may have had another pellet to change her bioscan readouts, "
Shardantin added. "Deceiving us into believing she was succumbing to their& what does your
species call it, the transdelta linking?"
One pill makes them larger and one pill makes them small? Sydney's mouth fell open.
Are they off their rockers!
"Dignitary," Tren continued to plead. "That is an asinine assumption!"
"We know nothing of this woman's capabilities or her intentions in this galaxy. We will
take no chances! Flomink pounded a fist on the table. "Detain the woman and bring her to
Angard,"
"No damn it!" Tren bellowed.
Shardantin signaled her guards who moved toward Sydney.
"Wait a minute!" Sydney yelled.
Calem and Arjim rebelled and drew their talons from their sheaths only to find
Allegiance weapons being aimed directly at their heads. They froze.
"Tell them to stand down, Commander!" Flomink ordered as two other Allegiance sentry
snatched Sydney, one by each of her upper arms and began to drag her away.
"Let me go!" Sydney struggled to free herself. "I have something I need to say."
Alea jumped on the back of one of the guards holding Sydney and bit his shoulder. He
yowled and released his grip on Sydney. Bligh who was also present punched the other in the
face bloodying his nose. He fell to the ground. Bjead and Larimon rushed forward as did Aurus,
Vean and the rest of the Tertani warriors in the room. Rjant drew his weapon and Tren did the
same, both ready to defend their faith, their people& to defend Sydney.
"All of you stand down!" Flomink roared. "Or I will see to it that all of Tertia will be
exiled!"
"No wait!" Sydney fell to her knees in front of Flomink's image on the screen. "I can do
that! I am still linked!"
Flomink's eyes stilled on her.
"Stand down!" Rjant commanded overhearing what Sydney had said. "Stand down!"
He grabbed Tren's arms just as he was about to strike one of the Allegiance sentry.
"She's still linked."
Tren froze immediately and stared at his brethren briefly, their minds linking, so there
was no misinterpretation to what Rjant was saying over the noise. He then bellowed. "That s an
order. Stand down, warriors!"
"Stand down!" Rjant repeated. He turned to Shardantin and barked. "Tell your sentry to
stand down."
"Stand down!" Shardantin yelled.
Like the trained warriors they were, all of the sentry froze, with the exception of Calem
and Arjim that is, who were still determined to fight for their woman. Having deflected the
Allegiance weapons threatening them, they began to scuffle. Rjant and Tren leapt, and with no
other choice, aimed their talons at them, pressing the firing ends to their foreheads.
"She's still linked!" Rjant growled at them. "Stand down."
This time Calem and Arjim stilled, reality dawning on them quickly. They thought it
might be true as they'd been hearing her in their minds even after the breeching. Their eyes fell
to Sydney who remained on her knees in front of the Allegiance sobbing for her life, her wrists
still cuffed behind her back, her body bent forward as she begged for mercy. Their hearts
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wrenched and they tugged free of the hands grasping them. Both dropped their own weapons
and they went to her. Calem reached first, one of his arms slipping around her waist. He lifted
her to her feet as Arjim took her hand. Sydney tipped her face upward to them. She was clearly
crying and they both felt like complete numb-in-the-brains for fighting instead of trying to
comfort her.
"Then your voice in our heads was authentic?" Arjim cupped her cheek, his eyes
searching.
"Seems to be," Sydney returned.
Behind her Tren was explaining this new piece of information to Allegiance.
"This will be tested," Flomink returned.
"How can this be She'mana?" Calem press a hand to one of her shoulders. "We have
tripled and thus the mind link to you should now be broken."
"She'mana Sydney," Tren approached. "For the sake of your freedom we will need to test
this."
"Commander," Calem implored of Tren. "We have perceived what we suspected to be
her thoughts yet my brethren and I were uncertain if it were merely a figment of musings passing
between us."
"Or perhaps a residual effect of your being linked to her since you were small children,"
Tren returned, pondering the possibility. "Temporary or permanent, we cannot say, as we have
no known testimony of this ever occurring. This could be a first."
"Nevertheless," Rjant added. "It could be the divinities' grace for your She'mana's
freedom."
* * * *
It didn't take long to prove that she was still linked to her Sh'em mentally, and Sydney
was especially grateful that they conducted the tests with her Sh'em being removed to another
room.
They were getting considerably testy with her. Rather than relaying a series of harmless
words and sentences, they were grilling her relentlessly forcing her to bare all to the Allegiance
as she repeated everything they mentally transmitted to her out loud. It was rather embarrassing.
What about the occasions over the phases during which we linked with you?
I had gone off my meds because I thought might be cured.
Cured? Cured! Of what, your mates' passion for you?
The entire time she was being observed, scanned for brainwave signals and being tested
for ingestion of artificial substances or hidden transmitting devices. She supposed the same
thing was also happening to them in whatever room they'd been taken too.
Did you enjoy torturing us, woman?
It wasn't on purpose!
"This better not be some advanced trick of technology, Commander," Flomink
commented at some point during Sydney's exchange with her Sh'em.
Sydney continued. But you were driving me bananas. Everyone thought I was insane. I
really thought I was going to go insane! Aside from that I wanted to fly starjets, and the military
would've barred me from doing so if I they thought I was loony tunes!"
That is no excuse, She'mana, Arjim said to her.
Look at the bright side. Sydney beseeched them. If I hadn't been flying I wouldn't have
gone through the wormhole and you wouldn't have found me.
We would've found you sooner, woman! Calem barked back.
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Oops&
I think we shall make our woman pay, brethren. Calem said to Arjim.
Pay how? Sydney gulped. With much chagrin she hesitated and as she'd been doing all
along, finally repeated what they had said for the council to hear, along with every other damn
person in the room!
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