"Wil you grow tentacles and tusks?" Saim asked, with a hint of humor in his eyes.

"If I have to. We will be going into a secure sector; however, a security forces laboratory is unlikely to have an active defense. It doesn't contain any of the financial or valuable data hacker psychers usual y want, so there is no need for a psycher to actively control it. The laboratory will have passive defenses instead. There are three types.

First, the loop traps. These are bionet connections designed to lock a mind into a loop in an effort to keep it from reaching its destination. People typical y see these as quick sand, swamp, iced over water, and so on. If you are caught in a loop, do not panic. Clear your mind and imagine yourself escaping. If that doesn't work, picture fal ing through the trap and landing by the hub. That usual y initiates the expel ing protocol. You will land by the hub and will have to log off.

"The second type of trap is the damage events. Fal ing rocks, geysers of molten lava, mud slides, and so on.

These are the coded defenses. They will activate when triggered but they have a limited range. If you are caught in one of these, you will take damage. Sometimes severe damage. Your mind may develop lesions or become 'bruised.' You may see something that looks like a glowing worm or a tangle of luminescent threads. Sometimes the world will abruptly darken or become too bright to see the objects. If you experience visual anomalies after a damage event, you must tel me immediately. Remember that your range is shorter than mine. I can broadcast my thoughts from a large distance, which means you will hear me but I may not hear you. If you take damage and I do not respond, you must log off as soon as possible."

She waited for everyone to nod.

"The third type of traps are the chasers. The chasers are the defense entities produced by the AI. They are usual y perceived as something alive: dogs, insects, sharks. The chasers will actively pursue you. If a large number of the chasers are destroyed, the AI will sound the perimeter alarm, which will bring a living psycher responsible for the security of the sector on our heads. This is something we want to avoid at all costs."

"Why?" Saim asked. "I mean can't you just fight him or her off?"

"Right now all of us are guilty of conspiring to alter data. It is a non-violent offense," Claire said. "If we confront a psycher, I may have to kil her. Terminating a human mind of a Rada citizen is a death sentence for everyone in this room."

Sudden silence claimed the room.

Claire was the first to break it. "This is why I need you.

Your purpose is to fol ow me until we encounter chasers. As soon as chasers find us, each of you must engage one of them and lead them away. You must scatter and take them with you to keep the AI from sounding the alarm. You don't have to fight. You just have to run and keep them occupied to let me accomplish my task without having to destroy them. Even if all you do is make circles around the hub, as long as they are fol owing you, I will be able to do everything I need to do."

"How will we know when you're done and it's safe to log off?" Charles asked.

"You will hear a signal. If you don't hear anything or if you become lost, don't worry, I will come and get you. One more thing: don't get bitten. We'l be facing Security Force chasers. Their bite will leave a mark on your mind.

Eventual y it will dissipate - usual y in a few weeks - but until then if you log into the bionet, anyone there with you will instantly know that you've tried to break the law. If you are unsure, now is the time to take a step back."

Nonna swal owed and got up. "I'm sorry. I can't. I just can't."

"It's alright," Claire told her. "Nobody here will judge you. It's fine."

The young woman backed out of the circle and went into the other room.

"Anyone else?"

Nobody moved.

"We're ready," Charles said.

Claire took a deep breath and began to dismantle the shel over her mind.

Five minutes later the last vestiges of the shel crumbled in her mind. It felt unbelievable. It felt as if she had been carrying a heavy burden, and chained to it for so long, she had forgotten it was there. Now it was gone. Claire felt light, so indescribably light.... Her mind soared like a bird, stretching, touching her team's minds, establishing a link.

The five stared at her.

"Wow," Kosta whispered.

Claire sent a focused thought. "Lay down and try to relax."

"I've heard that before," Mittali murmured.

Saim laughed nervously.

They lay on their backs, their heads toward the hub.

Tonya approached, carrying bionet cognizance units, half-bands of ornate, inert plastic, each sealed in its own transparent wrapper. Claire rose and approached Charles.

"Are you ready?"

He swallowed. "Yes."

Claire took the first unit, tore the plastic sleeve, and pul ed it out. The steel-colored half-band had three holes: a large oval space on the left and two oblong narrow openings on the right. A thin sheet of disposable plastic sheathed the inner side of the unit. Claire peeled it off, revealing adhesive underneath, careful y positioned the unit over the right half of Charles's forehead, just above the eye, and pressed it down. The plastic adhered to the skin.

Charles clenched his teeth.

"Relax." Claire dipped her fingers into the basin of liquid interface in the hub. The mix of metal and synthetic neurons nipped at her skin with sharp electric teeth.

"Once you are in, don't move. Wait for me."

She pul ed the interface away from the hub. It stretched in spider-thin strands from her hand. Claire touched Charles's skin, letting the interface drip into the first opening of the unit. The dark-grey liquid fil ed the hole in the plastic, forging connections through the skin. Claire touched the left opening, letting it fil , then the right. Charles blinked. The band ensured that connections were made to the right areas of the brain. The filaments of the interface thickened, as more liquid flowed from the hub, reinforcing the connection.

Charles closed his eyes. His body straightened, aligning, and relaxed. He was in.

Claire moved on to Zinaida.

*** *** ***

"Am I doing it right?" Tonya murmured.

"You're fine," Claire said, feeling the prickling of the liquid interface at it fil ed the last opening in the cognizance unit. "Thank you."

She closed her eyes. Darkness flowed over her, as the synthetic neurons made connections with her mind. She lunged down a dark circular tunnel, faster and faster. She had done this thousands of times over the years and she knew what awaited her on the other end - sometimes it was a bleak cliff or severe steppe, but in the past two years it had been the dark forest, uniform tree trunks and pale green leaves. green leaves.

She welcomed it. She yearned for it. She missed the chase, the thril of the battle, the infinite possibilities the bionet offered. It probably said volumes about the hypocrisy of her morals, but in this moment Claire didn't care.

Light exploded and she landed, fal ing into a practiced crouch.

The ground under her was intense, shocking green.

Bright yel ow flowers, their petals thin and long, all but glowed in the silky grass. Claire raised her head.

Jungle breathed at her. Tal grasses with blade-shaped silvery leaves surrounded dark bushes, their foliage splaying out in wide rosettes. A patch of hair-thin stalks tipped by lavender crests of petals thrust through the spaces between wide oyster-shel plants, the inside of their leaves a blinding turquoise. Massive trees, a dozen meters wide, thrust to the sky, spreading their crown so high above, looking at them made her dizzy. Vines dripped from their branches in thick ropes, bearing large blossoms with triangular petals of deepest crimson. Ferns coiled by the thick roots. Emerald green moss cushioned the bark, interrupted by bubbles of some orange-red plants and ridges of lemon-yel ow mushrooms.

Claire stared, shocked.

Creatures crouched around her, a pale blue bul with six horns; a gazel e with golden hooves and wide antlers; a fox with three tails, her bright orange fur rippling with flashes of yel ow; a flightless bird on two sturdy legs with blue and green plumage; a slick lupine beast with black fur and six legs; and a bearded ape, fast and agile, his chocolate fur legs; and a bearded ape, fast and agile, his chocolate fur stained by rings of beige.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god," the ape whispered and she recognized Kosta's voice.

Behind her the sound of fal ing water marked the hub: what was once a three-foot-tal metal sculpture turned into a ten-foot-tal stone fountain. Water spil ed from the top in clear sheets and fell into a mirrored basin at the feet of the three women.

Claire looked into the basin and saw herself in its depths. A giant panther stared at her. Her fur was blood-red, striped with slashes of silver. Her eyes glowed with bril iant gold. A mane of pale red streamed from the back of her head, flaring around two pairs of her long black horns that thrust up and to the sides behind the bright tuffs of her ears. Her wide paws bore black claws the size of swords.

She flicked her tail and saw it was tipped with long tuft of pale red fur, hiding a wicked black spike. Claire smiled and saw the sabers of silver fangs in her powerful mouth.

Sensory overload. She had suffered a culture shock after the planetfal . The province of Dahlia bloomed in her mind with all its colors, scents, and flavors and it reshaped the bionet. What once was a grim forest evolved into a lush jungle.

Claire bowed her head. "Is everyone with me?"

Voices chorused back in agreement.

"We go," she said.

They began their run through the jungle, leaping over the fal en trees and dashing past exotic flowers. She kept the pace brisk, but not tiring. They'd have to save their the pace brisk, but not tiring. They'd have to save their strength for later.

The path curled and they shot out onto a cliff. Far to the right an enormous tree rose, its branches glowing with bright purple lanterns.

"A castle," Saim-Wolf whispered.

Mittali-Bird laughed. "A spaceport!"

"That's where we're going," Claire said. "Fol ow closely, and remember the way. You will be retracing your steps on your way back."