{"id":95,"date":"2012-02-12T00:00:58","date_gmt":"2012-02-12T05:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/?p=95"},"modified":"2012-01-05T13:54:16","modified_gmt":"2012-01-05T18:54:16","slug":"chapter-seven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/?p=95","title":{"rendered":"Chapter Seven"},"content":{"rendered":"

If there is one thing that can be said of the Rose Foundation, like its ally the Psychean Guard, it is that it breeds dreamers\u2014ones who dream dangerously, desperately, out of desire and necessity.\u00a0 That is why we fear it.\u00a0 That is why it must die.<\/p>\n

— Hans Trepanning (Eurydice Compact), Memoirs of a CEO<\/em>, 5215 PD<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

11 Octem, 5249 PD
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

She sat quietly out on the front lawn, watching the fog drift amongst the trees.\u00a0 Brendan was still asleep inside\u2014she\u2019d tried hard not to wake him, to let him get another precious few hours of sleep.\u00a0 The rest of the world\u2014or at least Nova Spexi\u2014was still largely asleep on the gray, foggy morning.\u00a0 It was chilly, and the fog promised to turn to misty rain later, but for the moment, it was just a fog, drifting through trees that were old when she was born.<\/p>\n

Was this what Old Earth had looked like, thousands of years ago, before humanity had killed it?\u00a0 Was this what it smelled like\u2014wet grass, the salt of the sea that lay only a few dozen kilometers away, and the fog?<\/p>\n

Sometimes, only sometimes, she wondered.\u00a0 Wondered about Old Earth, wondered what it was like.\u00a0 Usually when she was alone, while he was still asleep some mornings.\u00a0 She wondered if she was the only one that imagined what it had been like.\u00a0 She couldn\u2019t possibly be the only one\u2014intellectually, she knew that.\u00a0 But sometimes she wondered how many other people thought those same thoughts, and how often they thought them, and where.\u00a0 It was a little exercise she ran through sometimes\u2014not often, but sometimes.<\/p>\n

She had a blanket loosely clasped around her shoulders to ward off the early morning chill. \u00a0She glanced toward the side of the house and the garden that wrapped around from near the kitchen door.\u00a0 They\u2019d have to bring in some of the herbs soon. \u00a0They were ready for harvest.<\/p>\n

Before the Council meeting, I\u2019ll do that.\u00a0 Harvest and bundle.\u00a0 Start drying them.<\/em>\u00a0 She rubbed her face and sighed.\u00a0 The Council meeting\u2026<\/em>\u00a0 She wasn\u2019t sure that she wanted to go, but she knew she had to.\u00a0 She\u2019d been absent too often lately, and they needed her there.\u00a0 There was no denying it.<\/p>\n

I hope what happened the last time doesn\u2019t happen again.<\/em>\u00a0 There were no guarantees\u2014but then, what was<\/em> there a guarantee in?<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re up early.\u201d<\/p>\n

She hadn\u2019t heard him approach, and she looked up at Brendan now as he settled down next to her in the grass.\u00a0 \u201cOnly a little.\u00a0 Did you sleep okay?\u201d<\/p>\n

He still looked exhausted, but he nodded.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, I slept okay.\u00a0 Got worried when I woke up and you weren\u2019t there.\u201d<\/p>\n

She winced.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t want to wake you.\u00a0 You just seemed so tired.\u201d\u00a0 She kissed his cheek gently.\u00a0 \u201cGo back to bed.\u00a0 I\u2019m not going anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m up, now.\u201d\u00a0 He stared out at the trees.\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2019re you doing out here?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThinking,\u201d she said quietly, hugging a knee against her chest.\u00a0 \u201cLooking.\u00a0 It\u2019s pretty out here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is,\u201d he agreed, raking a hand back through his short dark hair.\u00a0 He paused, then looked at her.\u00a0 \u201cThinking about what?\u201d<\/p>\n

She smiled wryly.\u00a0 \u201cIf this was what Old Earth looked like, before humans ruined it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh.\u201d\u00a0 He eased an arm around her, drawing her close to him.\u00a0 She smiled a little.\u00a0 \u201cI guess I\u2019d never thought about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure why I do, sometimes.\u201d\u00a0 Lindsay smiled a little and leaned into his chest, watching the mists drift in an unfelt breeze as he held her.\u00a0 She counted his heartbeats in the silence before she broke it.\u00a0 \u201cYou have to go in today.\u201d\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t a question.<\/p>\n

Brendan nodded.\u00a0 \u201cYeah.\u00a0 Going to start putting some of the cadets through their paces in simulators a week early.\u00a0 One or two of them might have a prayer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFull-on combat maneuvers?\u201d\u00a0 She\u2019d seen his notes, though she wasn\u2019t sure exactly how much of what he\u2019d scribbled down he was planning on putting into practice.\u00a0 There had been a lot<\/em> of notes.<\/p>\n

He nodded a little.\u00a0 \u201cQuentin James and I are the closest they\u2019ll get to enemy combatants.\u00a0 He said he\u2019d play wingman to me in the simulators.\u00a0 I have to go in early to help him tweak the simulations.\u00a0 I just wish we had better intelligence on what sort of fighters the Compact and Chinasia are using these days.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re really worried.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYour aunt is really worried.\u00a0 Blame her for encouraging paranoia.\u201d\u00a0 He squeezed her, staring off toward the woods.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m not sure if she\u2019s more worried about you or the colony\u2019s survival.\u00a0 Could be both.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe hasn\u2019t been by in a couple days.\u00a0 I keep thinking I should go down and see her.\u201d\u00a0 Then I end up thinking that it\u2019d be a total role reversal for me to go down and see her rather than the opposite and I decide not to bother.\u00a0 She\u2019s fine.\u00a0 She\u2019s just busy.\u00a0 That happens.\u00a0 I get busy.\u00a0 Of course, I almost never leave the house.\u00a0 But Alana hasn\u2019t been hanging around as much.\u00a0 That can\u2019t be a bad thing.\u00a0 Maybe Aunt Rachel\u2019s been dragging her all over the place.\u00a0 Maybe?\u00a0 Possibly?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy don\u2019t you do that today while I\u2019m down on the base?\u201d<\/p>\n

Lindsay shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cBecause I\u2019ll see her at the Council meeting anyway.\u00a0 What\u2019s the point?\u00a0 I\u2019ll stay home and get some of the herbs bundled.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brendan stiffened at the mention of the Council meeting.\u00a0 His brow furrowed, hazel eyes suddenly troubled.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re going to go?\u201d<\/p>\n

She sighed a little.\u00a0 \u201cThey\u2019re right\u2014all of them are right\u2014I\u2019ve been gone too much lately.\u00a0 I\u2019ll just have to find a way to make it work, that\u2019s all.\u00a0 One way or another, I\u2019ll have to find a way to make it work.\u201d\u00a0 She rubbed at a temple a little.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll take a pill or something.\u00a0 I\u2019ll be fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou hate those things.\u00a0 I<\/em> hate those things and I don\u2019t even have to take them.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m glad you don\u2019t have to take them.\u00a0 Hopefully, you never will.\u00a0 I\u2019ll just have to figure out a better way to handle the ruckus that goes on in my head so I don\u2019t have to take them, either.<\/em>\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s either that or not go, and if half of what I saw was real, Brendan, they need me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHalf,\u201d he said hollowly.\u00a0 \u201cYou know more than half of it\u2019s real.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all real,\u201d she agreed, \u201cbut how much of it can be prevented is the bigger question.\u00a0 I\u2019m hoping more than half.\u201d\u00a0 She settled in against his chest again.\u00a0 His arm tightened around her.\u00a0 \u201cI just hope we\u2019re not too late to stop the worst of it all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you think we are?\u201d<\/p>\n

She shook her head slightly.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know, Brendan.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

He nodded slowly.\u00a0 \u201cDo you want me to come straight from base to the Council chambers?\u201d<\/p>\n

She looked up at him, smiling faintly.\u00a0 \u201cWould you?\u201d<\/p>\n

He laughed a little, looking down toward her.\u00a0 \u201cYou have to ask?\u00a0 Of course I will.\u00a0 I\u2019ll be there as soon as I can this afternoon.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an evening meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you want me to come pick you up here, then?\u201d<\/p>\n

She shook her head a little.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll go down to Aunt Rachel\u2019s.\u00a0 Drive in with her.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou sure?\u201d<\/p>\n

She nodded.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sure.\u00a0 You can just meet us there, and then maybe if things go well, we can have dinner in town.\u00a0 Maybe.\u00a0 Depending on my headache and how many people I want to hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n

He laughed.\u00a0 \u201cIf you want to, sure.\u00a0 We\u2019ll play it by ear, okay?\u201d<\/p>\n

Lindsay smiled, nodding.\u00a0 \u201cThat sounds good.\u00a0 We haven\u2019t been out in a long time, have we?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMore than a year,\u201d he admitted.\u00a0 \u201cJust hasn\u2019t been an occasion or anything, or an opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll make one,\u201d she said, looking back to the mists.<\/p>\n

He nodded.\u00a0 \u201cTonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0 \u25cf\u00a0\u00a0 \u25cf<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Someone rapped on the doorframe of his office.\u00a0 The door stood ajar, so he could hear when people were approaching, but this time there had been no sound to herald any arrival.\u00a0 That meant it could only be one from a bare handful of people.<\/p>\n

Ezra pushed away from his desk where he\u2019d been reading over some of the latest medical studies to come out of New Earth space in the last several months\u2014they\u2019d arrived in hardcopy on the last cargo hauler coming to pick up a shipment of wheat to the Whispers.\u00a0 He tilted his head, wearing a quizzical expression as he realized who his visitor was.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlana, what\u2019re you doing here?\u201d\u00a0 Thought for sure you\u2019d be attached to Lindsay at the hip for the next month and a half, after what happened at the Council meeting. \u00a0How\u2019d someone pry you loose?<\/em>\u00a0 He leaned back in his chair, looking at her.\u00a0 She was dressed in baggy pants and a tightly-fitted sleeveless top, despite the morning\u2019s chill.\u00a0 She looked like she\u2019d been out running.\u00a0 She only ran in the morning, before most children were up and around\u2014she was convinced that the sight of her heavily cybered arm would frighten them.<\/p>\n

She was probably right.\u00a0 It was a frightening sight, that arm.\u00a0 The Eurydice Compact designed it as much for effect as it did for function.\u00a0 Easily hidden beneath a sport coat of some kind or a uniform jacket, bared it was a silver-gray color, servos and polymer muscle-augments set tightly against pale flesh.\u00a0 Wires connected different components, clustering up at the shoulder, then down at the elbow cap and again down her forearm to her wrist and hand.\u00a0 The hand was perhaps the most remarkable\u2014it was sheathed in a silver-gray metal.\u00a0 Tiny holes in the fingertips concealed hollow injector needles that were now empty, but during her service to both the Eurydice Compact had held a neurotoxin.\u00a0 During her service to E-557\u2019s military, Ezra had been told, the injectors had been loaded with sedatives.<\/p>\n

As frightening as it was, it didn\u2019t scare him.\u00a0 He knew how to take it apart and rebuild the muscle, flesh, and bone underneath to give her a natural, functioning arm again.\u00a0 Further, he knew that a tap here<\/em>, a pulled wire there<\/em> would prevent it from functioning.\u00a0 Most people didn\u2019t know that.\u00a0 He\u2019d spent most of his life fixing things like that, though, studying cyberware for the sole purpose of taking it off and out of people and giving them what many of them had craved since they were children\u2014a normal life, free from the trappings of the old life.\u00a0 That was his job.\u00a0 That was what he did.<\/p>\n

But she wasn\u2019t here for that, was she?<\/p>\n

Alana shrugged awkwardly.\u00a0 He rocked back in his chair.\u00a0 Alana was never<\/em> awkward, she was always<\/em> in control.\u00a0 \u201cI came to make an appointment,\u201d she said, licking her lips.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor that?\u201d\u00a0 He pointed to her arm.\u00a0 Now?\u00a0 She comes now?\u00a0 After the Council meeting, after\u2014hell.\u00a0 After everything?\u00a0 Of all times, she picks now?<\/em><\/p>\n

She shrugged again.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m retired.\u00a0 It\u2019s time.\u00a0 Everyone else thinks it\u2019s time.\u00a0 They\u2019re right.\u00a0 It is.\u00a0 I\u2019m never going back to that life.\u201d\u00a0 She meant a soldier\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s going to tear me limb from limb.<\/em>\u00a0 \u201cHold off,\u201d he said carefully.<\/p>\n

\u201cHold off.\u201d\u00a0 She deadpanned, ice-blue gaze pinning his heart against his spine.\u00a0 \u201cWhat do you mean, \u2018hold of\u2019?\u00a0 Half the planet is asking me if they\u2019re going to have to make the appointment to have this done for<\/em> me, and now you\u2019re telling me to hold off<\/em> on having it done?\u00a0 Have you suddenly lost your bloody mind<\/em>?\u201d\u00a0 She was fully in the office now, well clear of the doorway.<\/p>\n

He winced and put up his hands in a gesture for her to back off.\u00a0 \u201cClose the door and let me explain, Alana.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t lost my mind yet.\u00a0 At least I don\u2019t think I have.\u201d\u00a0 He moved some of the papers on his desk out of the way and opened a drawer, pulling out some notes he\u2019d scribbled out in the previous day and a half.<\/p>\n

Alana shut the door and appropriated a chair from behind it, turning it backwards and sinking down into it.\u00a0 She watched him for a moment, brow furrowing, then shook her head.\u00a0 \u201cStart explaining or I\u2019m going to start thinking you\u2019re completely cracked, Ezra.\u201d<\/p>\n

He frowned, staring at her for a moment.\u00a0 \u201cYou know that Lin saw something, right?\u00a0 About her parents?\u00a0 And the Council confirmed that they\u2019re still alive somewhere in New Earth space, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

Alana looked annoyed, by only for a moment.\u00a0 She smothered the expression quickly.<\/p>\n

Ezra winced again.\u00a0 I\u2019d better make the pitch fast or else she might decide to disembowel me.<\/em>\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve been talking to my sister, and she says that D\u2019Arcy Morgause and his people aren\u2019t one hundred percent sure yet, but it looks like Chinasia and the Compact really do have her parents.\u00a0 One has one, the other has the other.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat does this have to do with me, Ezra?\u201d\u00a0 Her voice was flat, monotone.\u00a0 \u201cRight now, you\u2019re not doing a very good job at coming to a point, and quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSorry, sorry.\u201d\u00a0 He shuffled through his notes, more of a nervous gesture than anything.\u00a0 He knew what he was pitching to her.\u00a0 They were more a prop to keep his thoughts in order.\u00a0 Paper did that.\u00a0 It was soothing.\u00a0 \u201cI think if we can plan it right, we can rescue her parents and be gone before either of the congloms know what hit them.\u201d<\/p>\n

She just stared at him like he was crazy.\u00a0 He winced.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t give me that look, Alana.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been thinking about this since Kara told me what happened.\u00a0 I\u2019m still\u2026working on the details, but I think that with a little more time I can come up with something that\u2019s going to work, and work well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll believe it when I see it, Ezra.\u201d\u00a0 She made no moves to leave his office, though.<\/p>\n

Is she giving me a chance to talk her into this?<\/em>\u00a0 He leaned forward slightly, running a hand through his hair.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t have my hands on D\u2019Arcy\u2019s documents\u2014Kara\u2019s going to try to wrest those away from him today at the Council meeting\u2014but like I said, what Lindsay\u2019s seen in visions pretty much confirms who\u2019s got them.\u00a0 I figure the smaller team that goes in the better\u2014three men, I hope, and sneak them out from under Chinasia and the Compact\u2019s noses without much trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll right.\u00a0 You\u2019ve got my attention, Ezra.\u00a0 Keep talking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keep talking, huh?<\/em>\u00a0 \u201cI was thinking you, Brendan Cho, and I would make up that three-man team.\u201d<\/p>\n

The air in the room thickened.\u00a0 She stared at him, almost through him, for a long moment before she leaned back slightly.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re serious.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course I\u2019m serious.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have,\u201d she paused, as if fighting to put it delicately, \u201cno military training.\u201d<\/p>\n

He blushed.\u00a0 \u201cI know how to use a gun.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not exactly what I\u2019m talking about Ezra.\u201d\u00a0 Alana rubbed her forehead with her flesh and blood hand.\u00a0 \u201cI think that you\u2019ll need to rethink who you want to send.\u00a0 Why me?\u00a0 Why Commander Cho?\u201d<\/p>\n

She hasn\u2019t said no outright, yet.\u00a0 Is that a good sign?<\/em>\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re from the Compact\u2014and you look<\/em> like you\u2019re from the Compact, and unless I miss my guess, you still speak their language and know how to walk that walk and talk that talk.\u00a0 You\u2019re also probably the most deadly person I know.\u201d\u00a0 Is that how I should have phrased it?\u00a0 Bah.\u00a0 Too late now, I guess.<\/em>\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019d tap Brendan for the same reason\u2014and moreover, there\u2019s no one<\/em> on this planet that speaks the Chinasia corporate language.\u00a0 He\u2019s the only one, and without that sort of knowledge, the kind of operation I\u2019m thinking of would crash and burn in a heartbeat.\u00a0 There\u2019d be no hope of rescuing Channing and Farragut.\u00a0 We\u2019d have to do something drastic to make sure what they know doesn\u2019t end up killing us all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly you could use the term \u2018moreover\u2019 in casual conversation and not flinch, Ezra.\u201d\u00a0 Alana stood up, stretched, started to pace.\u00a0 Ezra felt ill at ease.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s like being in a cage with an agitated wild cat.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThey have a tactical language, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

He blinked.\u00a0 \u201cWho has a tactical language?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cChinasia Corp.\u00a0 They have a tactical language, too.\u00a0 You\u2019re lucky Commander Cho is probably<\/em> more than fluent in that as well.\u201d\u00a0 Alana smiled wryly at him, pausing in her pacing.\u00a0 \u201cWhen you\u2019re going to come up with a plan, Ezra, make sure you\u2019ve got all<\/em> the intelligence you can possibly get to back it up before<\/em> you pitch it to someone.\u00a0 D\u2019Arcy Morgause would be ripping you apart right now.\u00a0 He has enough brain cells for that, at least.\u201d<\/p>\n

He almost laughed in relief.\u00a0 \u201cI knew there was a reason I was pitching this at you first.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alana shook her head, expression grim.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019d do anything to bring her parents home, Ezra.\u00a0 But I\u2019m not going to walk into a suicide mission.\u00a0 The plan has holes, big ones, and you need to fill those with intelligence before we can move on this.\u00a0 And you still have to convince me that you should be the third to come along.\u201d\u00a0 She rolled her shoulder, stretching a little.\u00a0 \u201cWhere does your sister stand with all of this?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cKara knows I was going to try to come up with something, but I haven\u2019t given her any details.\u00a0 She\u2019s setting me up with the recordings of the Council meetings for the past month.\u201d\u00a0 The transcripts would be more useful, but she said those would be missed more than the recordings.\u00a0 Go figure.\u00a0 Our love affair with things on paper, I guess.<\/em>\u00a0 His own collection of printed journals and handwritten notes spoke to his own love affair with things on paper.\u00a0 It was something that had arisen at the beginnings of the Rose Foundation, he was convinced, something about getting back to humanity\u2019s roots, and that included a movement away from digitization of knowledge back toward the printed word, the printed page.<\/p>\n

Ezra leaned back in his chair.\u00a0 \u201cI think she realizes that anything that D\u2019Arcy\u2019s people come up with will be something that\u2019s too little and too late.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat D\u2019Arcy\u2019s people will come up with is either a full scale invasion or assassination, plain and simple, if he deigns to put any thought to this at all.\u201d\u00a0 There was malice in Alana\u2019s voice, mingled with annoyance.\u00a0 She\u2019d never cared for D\u2019Arcy Morgause, but no one really seemed to know why.\u00a0 Ezra was willing to bet that if anyone did, it was Rachel Farragut, but he\u2019d never bothered to ask her.\u00a0 What was the point of asking, anyway?<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you really think he\u2019d send people in to kill them?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he decided it was too risky or otherwise too dangerous to try to extract them, yes.\u00a0 He would.\u00a0 He\u2019s actually the most likely to because he\u2019s lazy.\u00a0 But any of them would order their deaths if the lives of everyone here depended on it.\u201d\u00a0 Alana winced.\u00a0 \u201cEven Rachel and Lindsay would.\u00a0 That\u2019s the reality<\/em> of the situation.\u00a0 Thanks be to whatever powers might exist out there that we\u2019ve been beneath everyone\u2019s notice until recently.\u00a0 I\u2019m afraid time\u2019s running out, now, and the Compact and Chinasia will be working on finding out exactly what Commander Channing and Ms. Farragut know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Which means the clock\u2019s already started, and rescuing them is a priority\u2014but not for long. \u00a0<\/em>Ezra nodded slowly.\u00a0 \u201cI guess we\u2019ve got some holes to plug, then.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou did<\/em> say you were in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alana frowned, thinking for a moment, then sighed and shook her head.\u00a0 \u201cI guess I did.\u201d\u00a0 She moved to the door, locked it, then squared her shoulders as she turned back to him.\u00a0 \u201cWe need to get to work.\u00a0 When will Kara get those files to you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSoon, I\u2019d think.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019d better be soon.\u00a0 Hopefully there\u2019ll be more information available after tonight\u2019s meeting\u2014something to help with this plan.\u00a0 Maybe I should talk to Lindsay about what she saw\u2026<\/em>\u00a0 He discarded the idea quickly.\u00a0 There had to be another way to get information about what she\u2019d seen in her visions.\u00a0 He looked at Alana.\u00a0 \u201cWhat about Lindsay\u2019s visions?\u201d<\/p>\n

Her expression was impassive.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll tell you what I know.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If there is one thing that can be said of the Rose Foundation, like its ally the Psychean Guard, it is that it breeds dreamers\u2014ones who dream dangerously, desperately, out of desire and necessity.\u00a0 That is why we fear it.\u00a0 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-last-colony"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p25yjF-1x","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=95"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96,"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95\/revisions\/96"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=95"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=95"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=95"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}