Keeper Read Free Page B

flagrant breach of nineteen different protocols including theft of an experimental spacecraft.
    “Do you, Mrs. Lennox, know where your sister is?”
    Martha looked at the alien and felt a prickle of contact on her mind. “I am not a Volunteer, so what right do you have to rummage through my thoughts?”
    The recruiter looked sharply at the woman in robes behind him. “I apologize. It was not our intent to intrude on your privacy.”
    “My privacy or my grief? My sister’s mind has gone dark. There is no contact with her. Our connection is silent.” Her voice trembled, but she sat up straight. Her daughters were in the outer office with their father and they were not going to feel her pain.
    “What would drive your sister to such actions?” The woman behind the recruiter spoke softly.
    “She wouldn’t break the rules unless someone was in danger. Check her last assignment and see if there was someone that she would be concerned for. If you can speak to them, you might be able to find out why she did what she did.” Martha got to her feet and headed for the door. She paused and turned around. “Did she really steal a spaceship?”
    The woman in the robes nodded.
    “One of us born for family, one of us born for adventure, and so it has always been.” Martha quoted her mother and left the Volunteer Centre office with a sad smile on her lips.
    Jake Lennox smiled at her and tucked her against his body. She put her arm around him and held tight as her daughters clung to her legs. They moved out of the centre and into the family car.
    Jake drove while Marty closed her eyes and felt for Aggie. The link was dark, but it was still there. She hadn’t lied. Aggie’s mind was silent, but it was still alive.
    Twelve generations of women with twins had culminated with Aggie and her. One was always an adventurer with keen senses, and one was designed for family. Marty wondered what she would have done if she was the adventurous twin. Would she have locked herself out in outer space, a criminal waiting for trial the moment she was found? The next letter from Aggie had better fill in details.
    Marty could wait as long as their link remained.
     
    * * * *
     
    Getting on a tour to the moon base had taken some doing, but Aggie had been gone nineteen months and there had been no trace of her. The file that Marty received that week was very specific.
    She was herded along with the crowd, and she sat in the auditorium to meet some of the trainers that ran the Volunteers through their paces.
    Marty smiled at the displays of telekinesis, the analytical touch of a Reader and the physical capability of the combat trainers. She identified the one she wanted easily. He was cold as he went through his paces, but he was definitely beautiful. Aggie hadn’t lied.
    When they were allowed to speak with the trainers, women surrounded him. Marty hung back and waited for his silver gaze to skim over her.
    The moment he saw her was visceral. His whole body jerked, and he pushed through the crowd. He gripped her arm and pulled her against him tightly. “Agatha.” He inhaled sharply and frowned. He let her go. “No, you are not.”
    Marty winced at the residue of his grip. “No, but she hates being called Agatha. It might be a little informal but she prefers Aggie.”
    “Preferred.”
    Marty led him from the disappointed crowd. “Not precisely. She is alive, but she is asleep. She has been asleep since she disappeared. Does that make sense?”
    He nodded. “Cold sleep. Of course. Why would she do that?”
    Marty passed him a small data crystal. “Let her explain it. Whatever information she wanted me to give to you, this is it. I know she is alive and she needed someone to find her and she trusted it to you. Can you send someone to look?”
    He closed his fingers over the data crystal as if it was something precious. “She has communicated to you?”
    “One message before she went dormant and one came this week. She told me not to read it,