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have to guess. The sinking sensation in his stomach was already telling him. “Fuck,” he swore, even as part of him growled his satisfaction at the news.
    “The trees like Amanda,” Fionn said, sounding all too pleased, which he didn’t like at all.
    “Maybe that’s why she needs to go,” he said quietly. “She’ll dig into things no one is supposed to know, least of all someone not of Harp.”
    Cristobal shrugged. “I agree. Unfortunately, I couldn’t object to her without giving Nakata a damn good reason. Without it, the objection itself might make him take a closer look. She clearly hasn’t shared her unique talents with any of her own people, which I find curious. It also makes me think better of her. Besides, Fionn’s right. The Green wants her here.”
    “She’s going to be a problem,” Rhodry said glumly, thinking mostly of himself, although he didn’t say so.
    “Oh, come on, Rhodry. She’s delightful,” Fionn said, leaping up with animal grace from his slouch over the chair.
    “She may be delightful, Fionn,” Cristobal said sharply, “but Rhodry’s right. She’s a complication, and I don’t want her left alone. We all know the trees like her. What we don’t know is why . And until we do, I don’t want her going out there alone. I don’t care what she does in the city, but when she goes into the Green, I want one of you two with her at all times. Tell her it’s for her own safety, tell her whatever she needs to hear, just keep an eye on her.”
    “She’s not going to like that.”
    “As much as I hate to agree with Rhodi here,” Fionn said with uncharacteristic seriousness, “I must. She’ll fight us at every turn.”
    “Then I trust the two of you will figure something out. See to it.”
    He and Fionn stood side by side as Cristobal left without a backward look.
    “He’s met Amanda, right?” Fionn asked.
    “Apparently not,” Rhodry said.
    “I’m sure I saw them shake hands.”
    He snorted a laugh. “I think it takes more than that.”
    Fionn sighed. “Well, you’re going to have to find a way to convince her it’s in her best interest to let us tag along.”
    “Me? I think you should do it. She likes you .”
    “It wasn’t me she was dancing with.”
    “I just happened to be the one standing there. She was a guest.”
    “You spent the whole evening with her. You must have gained some insight.”
    “Yeah, enough to know I’m the last person she’ll want following her around. And that she will never go along with us babysitting her every time she wants to leave the city.”
    Fionn slapped his shoulder, as if they’d reached a decision. “So, we won’t tell her.”
    “Right. We’ll simply ignore the Ardrigh’s orders.”
    “I didn’t say we wouldn’t watch her. We’ll do it from the trees where she can’t see us, and we’ll get a couple of the lads to help us out. She’ll never know we’re there.”
    He nodded in agreement. Although, privately, he didn’t think Amanda was going to make it that easy.

Chapter Seven
    United Earth Flagship James T.
    A manda walked down the familiar corridor of the flagship, noting as she never had before the path worn into the royal blue weave of the carpet, testimony to the hundreds, probably thousands, of feet that had passed this way since the deck’s last retrofit. Her own feet were responsible for a good part of that wear, rushing in triumph or dragging with exhaustion. Funny how everyone seemed to walk the same few inches of carpet right down the center.
    She was dragging her feet today, analyzing carpet wear instead of facing what she knew she had to do. When the door to the suite she shared with her mother presented itself, she thumbed the lock with reluctant determination. The door slid open.
    “You’re leaving?”
    Amanda looked up, dismayed to find her mother waiting for her in the hallway. She must have come directly from Sick Bay, because she still wore her pristine white lab coat, her long dark hair