“Did I say something you were interested in? What was I talking about?” I thought quickly, watching her
face. “Was it the rain? Or was it the idea of change? Change? You’ve got a lot of that ahead of you,
don’t you? You have to wake up first, though.”
Her face was empty, her hand motionless.
“So you don’t care for change. Can’t say that I blame you. I don’t want change to come, either. Are
you like me? Do you wish the summer could last?”
If I hadn’t been watching her face so closely, I wouldn’t have seen the tiny flicker of her lids.
“You like summertime, do you?” I asked hopefully.
Her lips twitched.
“Summer?”
Her hand trembled.
“Is that your name—Summer? Summer? That’s a pretty name.”
Her hand tightened into a fist, and her lips parted.
“Come back, Summer. I know you can do it. Summer? Listen to me, Summer. Open your eyes,
Summer.”
Her eyes blinked rapidly.
“Doc!” I called over my shoulder. “Doc, wake up!”
“Huh?”
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
I
know it’s hard. Summer, Summer, Summer. Open your eyes.”
Her face grimaced—was she in pain?
“Bring the No Pain, Doc. Hurry.”
The woman squeezed my hand, and her eyes opened. They didn’t focus at first, just whirled around the
bright cave. What a strange, unexpected sight this place must have been for her.
“You’re going to be all right, Summer. You’re going to be fine. Can you hear me, Summer?”
Her eyes wheeled back to me, the pupils constricting. She stared, absorbing my face. Then she cringed
away from me, twisting on the cot to escape. A low, hoarse cry of panic broke through her lips.
“No, no, no,” she cried. “No more.”
“Doc!”
He was there, on the other side of the cot, like before, when we were operating.
“It’s okay, ma’am,” he assured her. “No one is going to hurt you here.”
The woman had her eyes squeezed shut, and she recoiled into the thin mattress.
“I think her name is Summer.”
He flashed a look at me and then made a face. “Eyes, Wanda,” he breathed.
I blinked and realized that the sun was on my face. “Oh.” I let the woman pull her hand free.
“Don’t, please,” the woman begged. “Not again.”
“Shh,” Doc murmured. “Summer? People call me Doc. No one’s going to do anything to you. You’re
going to be fine.”
I eased away from them, into the shadows.
“Don’t call me that!” the woman sobbed. “That’s not my name! It’s hers, it’s hers! Don’t say it again!”
I’d gotten the wrong name.
Mel objected to the guilt that washed through me.It’s not your fault. Summer is a human name, too.
“Of course not,” Doc promised. “What isyour name?”
“I—I—I don’t know!” she wailed. “What happened? Who was I? Don’t make me be someone else
again.”
She tossed and thrashed on the cot.
“Who are you?” she demanded. “Who’s she? She’s like… like I was. I saw her eyes!”
“I’m Doc. And I’m human, just like you. See?” He moved his face into the light and blinked at her.
“We’re both just ourselves. There are lots of humans here. They’ll be so happy to meet you.”
She cringed again. “Humans! I’m afraid of humans.”
“No, you’re not. The… person who used to be in your body was afraid of humans. She was a soul,
remember that? And then remember before that, before she was there? You were human then, and you
are again.”
“I can’t remember my name,” she told him in a panicked voice.
“I know. It’ll come back.”
“Are you a doctor?”
“I am.”
“I was… she was, too. A… Healer. Like a doctor. She was Summer Song. Who am I?”
“We’ll find out. I promise you that.”
I edged toward the exit. Trudy would be a good person to help Doc, or maybe Heidi. Someone with a
calming face.
“She’s not human!” the woman whispered urgently to Doc, her eye caught by my movement.
“She’s a friend; don’t be afraid. She helped me bring you back.”
“Where is Summer Song? She was scared. There were humans.…”
I ducked out the door while she was distracted.
I heard Doc answer the question behind me. “She’s going to a new planet. Do you remember where she
was before she came here?”
I could guess what her answer would be from the name.
“She was… a Bat? She could fly.… She could sing.… I remember… but it was… not here. Where am
I?”
I hurried down the hall to find help for Doc. I was surprised when I saw the light of the great cavern
ahead—surprised because it was so quiet. Usually you could hear voices before you saw the light. It was
the middle of the day. There should have been someone in the big garden room, if only crossing through.
I walked out into the bright noon light, and the giant space was empty.
I stood very still, trying to hear something. The huge cavern was silent, and the silence was ominous.
Where was everyone?
Had they evacuated without me? A pang of fear and hurt shot through me. But they wouldn’t have left
without Doc, of course. They would never leave Doc. I wanted to dart back through the long tunnel to
make sure Doc had not disappeared, too.
They wouldn’t go without us, either, silly. Jared and Jamie and Ian wouldn’t leave us behind.
You’re right. You’re right. Let’s… check the kitchen?
I jogged down the silent corridor, getting more anxious as the silence continued. Maybe it was my
imagination, and the loud thumping of my pulse in my ears. Of course there must be something to hear. If
I could calm down and slow my breathing, I’d be able to hear voices.
But I reached the kitchen and it was empty, too. Empty of people. On the tables, half-eaten lunches had
been abandoned. Peanut butter on the last of the soft bread. Apples and warm cans of soda.
My stomach reminded me that I hadn’t eaten at all today, but I barely noted the twist of hunger. The
panic was so much stronger.
What if… what if we didn’t evacuate soon enough?
No!Mel gasped.No, we would have heard something! Someone would have… or there would be…
They’d still be here, looking for us. They wouldn’t give up until they’d checked everywhere. So
that can’t be it.
Unless they’re looking for us now.
I spun back toward the door, my eyes darting through the shadows.
I had to go warn Doc. We had to get out of here if we were the last two.
No! They can’t be gone!Jamie, Jared… Their faces were so clear, as if they were etched onto the
insides of my eyelids.
And Ian’s face, as I added my own pictures to hers. Jeb, Trudy, Lily, Heath, Geoffrey.We’ll get them
back, I vowed.We’ll hunt them down one by one and steal them back! I won’t letthem take my
family!
If I’d had any doubts where I stood, this moment would have erased them. I’d never felt so fierce in all
my lives. My teeth clenched tight, snapping together audibly.
And then the noise, the babble of voices I’d been so anxiously straining to hear, echoed down the hall to
us and made my breath catch. I slid silently to the wall and pressed myself into the shadow there,
listening.
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
.
Sounds like a large group.
Yes. But yours or mine?
Ours or theirs,she corrected.
I crept down the hall, keeping to the darkest shadows. We could hear the voices more clearly now, and
some of them were familiar. Did that mean anything? How long would it take trained Seekers to perform
an insertion?
And then, as I reached the very mouth of the great cave, the sounds became even clearer, and relief
washed through me—because the babble of voices was just the same as it had been my very first day
here. Murderously angry.
They had to be human voices.
Kyle must be back.
Relief warred with pain as I hurried into the bright sunlight to see what was going on. Relief because my
humans were safe. And pain because if Kyle was already safely back, then…
You’re still needed, Wanda. So much more than I am.
I’m sure I could find excuses forever, Mel. There will always be some reason.
Then stay.
With you as my prisoner?
We stopped arguing as we assessed the commotion in the cavern.
Kylewas back—the easiest one to spot, the tallest in the crowd, the only one facing me. He was pinned
against the far wall by the mob. Though he was the cause of the angry noise, he was not the source of it.
His face was conciliatory, pleading. He held his arms out to the sides, palms back, as if there was
something behind him he was trying to protect.
“Just calm down, okay?” His deep voice carried over the cacophony. “Back off, Jared, you’re scaring
her!”
A flash of black hair behind his elbow—an unfamiliar face, with wide, terrified black eyes, peeked
around at the crowd.
Jared was closest to Kyle. I could see that the back of his neck was bright red. Jamie clung to one of his
arms, holding him back. Ian was on his other side, his arms crossed in front of him, the muscles in his
shoulders tight with strain. Behind them, every other human but Doc and Jeb was massed in an angry
throng. They surged behind Jared and Ian, asking loud, angry questions.
“What were you thinking?”
“Why’d you come back at all?”
Jeb was in the back corner, just watching.
Sharon’s brilliant hair caught my eye. I was surprised to see her, with Maggie, right in the center of the
crowd. They’d both been so little a part of life here ever since Doc and I had healed Jamie. Never in the
middle of things.
It’s the fight,Mel guessed.They weren’t comfortable with happiness, but they’re at home with
fury.
I thought she was probably right. How… disturbing.
I heard a shrill voice throwing out some of the angry questions and realized that Lacey was part of the
crowd, too.
“Wanda?” Kyle’s voice carried across the noise again, and I looked up to see his deep blue eyes locked
on me. “Thereyou are! Could youplease come and give me a little help here?”
CHAPTER 55
Attached
Jeb cleared a path for me, pushing people aside with his rifle as though they were sheep and the gun a
shepherd’s staff.
“That’s enough,” he growled at those who complained. “You’ll get a chance to dress ’im down later.
We all will. Let’s get this sorted out first, okay? Let me through.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw Sharon and Maggie fall to the back of the crowd, melting away from
the reinstatement of reason. Away from my involvement, really, more than anything else. Both with jaws
locked, they continued to glare at Kyle.
Jared and Ian were the last two Jeb shoved aside. I brushed both of their arms as I passed, hoping to
help calm them.
“Okay, Kyle,” Jeb said, smacking the barrel of the gun against his palm. “Don’t try to excuse yourself,
’cause there ain’t no excuse. I’m plain torn between kickin’ ya out and shootin’ ya now.”
The little face, pale under the deep tan of her skin, peeped around Kyle’s elbow again with a swish of
long, curly black hair. The girl’s mouth was hanging open in horror, her dark eyes frantic. I thought I
could see a faint sheen to those eyes, a hint of silver behind the black.
“But right now, let’s calm everybody down.” Jeb turned around, gun held low across his body, and
suddenly it was as if he were guarding Kyle and the little face behind him. He glared at the mob. “Kyle’s
got a guest, and you’re scarin’ the snot out of her, people. I think you can all dig up some better manners
than that. Now, all of you clear out and get to work on something useful. My cantaloupes are dying.
Somebody do something about that, hear?”
It just wasn’t as shocking as it used to be.
Many went back toward their interrupted lunch, others returned to the irrigation barrel, others to their
rooms. Soon only Jared, Ian, and Jamie were left beside me. Jeb looked at these three with a cross
expression; his mouth opened, but before he could order them away again, Ian took my hand, and then
Jamie grabbed the other. I felt another hand on my wrist, just above Jamie’s. Jared.
Jeb rolled his eyes at the way they’d tethered themselves to me to avoid expulsion, and then turned his
back on us.
“Thanks, Jeb,” Kyle said.
“Shut the hell up, Kyle. Just keep your fat mouthshut. I’m dead serious about shooting you, you
worthless maggot.”
There was a weak whimper from behind Kyle.
“Okay, Jeb. But could you save the death threats till we’re alone? She’s terrified enough. You
remember how that kind of stuff freaks Wanda out.” Kyle smiled at me—I felt shock cross my face in
reaction—and then he turned to the girl hiding behind him with the gentlest expression I’d ever seen on
his face. “See, Sunny? This is Wanda, the one I told you about. She’ll help us—she won’t let anyone hurt
you, just like me.”
The girl—or was she a woman? She was tiny, but there was a subtle curviness to her shape that
suggested more maturity than her size—stared at me, her eyes huge with fright. Kyle put his arms around
her waist, and she let him pull her into his side. She clung there, as if he were an anchor, her pillar of
safety.
“Kyle’s right.” Never thought I’d say that. “I won’t let anyone hurt you. Your name is Sunny?” I asked
softly.
The woman’s eyes flashed up to Kyle’s face.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to be afraid of Wanda. She’s just like you.” He turned to me. “Her real
name is longer—something about ice.”
“Sunlight Passing Through the Ice,” she whispered to me.
I saw Jeb’s eyes brighten with his unquenchable curiosity.
“She doesn’t mind being called just Sunny, though. She said it was fine,” Kyle assured me.
Sunny nodded. Her eyes flickered from my face to Kyle’s and back again. The other men were totally
silent and totally motionless. The little circle of calm soothed her a bit, I could see. She must have been
“I was a Bear, too, Sunny,” I told her, trying to make her feel just a little more comfortable. “They called
me Lives in the Stars, then. Wanderer, here.”
“Lives in the Stars,” she whispered, her eyes somehow, impossibly, getting wider. “Rides the Beast.”
I suppressed a groan. “You lived in the second crystal city, I guess.”
“Yes. I heard the story so many times…”
“Did you like being a Bear, Sunny?” I asked quickly. I didn’t really want to get into my history right
now. “Were you happy there?”
Her face crumpled at my questions; her eyes locked onto Kyle’s face and filled with tears.
“I’m sorry,” I apologized at once, looking to Kyle, too, for an explanation.
