"You're in trouble, Crammer," said the Child of Still who had spoken.

He stood tall, and he was thin. The light touched his brown hair, and he looked at Crammer with his brown eyes. The Child of Still didn't hold a sword, a dagger, or any weapon. But he might have a Save. Zoey had never developed one.

What would it be like to fire lasers from your palms? What would it be like to fly?

The Child of Still looked at Crammer's sword. It floated away from his hand, and went toward the Child of Still. He grabbed the weapon.

Crammer scowled. "I knew you were going to come looking for me, Cage. But I was hoping that you would find my dead body."

"Fortunately, I found you alive," Cage said. "And so did my brothers and sisters. All of us were your family, Crammer. You used to be our brother."

"I used to be a fool."

Cage scoffed. "You still are. Who are these two? Are they friends of yours?"

"No," Zoey's mother said. "My name is Misty Windsore, and this is my daughter, Zoey All."

"Hello, Misty. I'm Cage Pacer, a loyal servant of planet Still. So are the people with me. They're not related to me, but they're still my family. All of us are Children of Still. Crammer used to be one of us. He's also going to die today."

Crammer nodded.

"That's true," he said. "But you're not going to kill me, Cage. None of you Still worshipers will. All of you are going to get killed, though, and I don't just mean the ones in this hall. Someone, or some people, will get rid of you and your Still-worshiping friends. But when your cult gets destroyed, I won't be there."

"We're definitely going to outlive you, that's for sure," Cage Pacer said. "Also, the Children of Still will never get destroyed by anyone. Someone is going to destroy you, though. You're a Soynite who doesn't worship Still anymore. You're as worthless as the dead Freemans here. Pretty soon, you're going to die in this space station. Just like they did."

"I assume that you read my note. You know why I decided to stop worshiping Still."

"All of us read that note of yours," Cage said. "You stopped worshiping Still because you felt guilty after you killed that man. You're such a disappointment. You didn't just disappoint me, but you disappointed Still, too."

Zoey assumed Crammer had killed a Soynite man. She had taken a Freeman's life, but she had never killed a Soynite. She had been born as one. So had each Child of Still. But Cage and his people believed any Soynite who decided not to join them deserved to die. If someone got rid of their cult, it would be good, like when Theo had become a king.

"That man didn't deserve to die," Crammer said. "I thought killing for Still was going to be a great thing, but it wasn't. When I realized it, it was too late. I couldn't bring that man back to life. I still can't. All of you have been convinced that killing people for Still is a good thing to do, but it isn't. And I'm never going to kill for Still ever again. The Children of Still have killed too many innocent people, people who didn't deserve to die. It's not right."

Cage glared. "It wasn't right when you stopped worshiping Still."

"After I killed that man, I couldn't stop feeling guilty," Crammer said. "The guilt stayed with me. It's going to be gone really soon, though. I know what has to happen. I have to die. That's how this guilt is going to finally go away. I need to kill myself, or someone needs to kill me. But I don't want a Freeman to do it. And I also don't want to get killed by any of you. Regardless, I don't plan on being alive tomorrow. No matter what happens, I'm going to die today."

"You're right about that," Cage said. "You deserve to die, Crammer. And you did a great thing when you killed that man who refused to worship Still. It's too bad that you don't agree."

Crammer shook his head. "It's too bad that man isn't alive right now. At least he didn't die as one of you purple-wearing fools."

Cage and the other Children of Still glared. The man Crammer had murdered would never be like them. His refusal to worship Still had gotten him killed, and the Children of Still in the hall would die, too. That would happen soon.

"What a waste of time, worshiping a planet that doesn't deserve to be worshiped," Crammer said. "You found me, Cage. But you should really find a different group of people to spend your time with. You should find some Freemans to get killed by. All of you Still worshipers should."

"Still worshipers are better than everyone else in this universe," Cage said. "No Child of Still deserves to get killed by a Freeman. The ones in this space station have failed to kill you, but I'm not going to. I have your sword. I have telekinesis. And the only power you have is the one you and me were born with. That power isn't going to protect you, though. You're going to die in this hall, Crammer."

Crammer clenched his fists. "I'm not going to let you kill me."

"Yes, you will."

Crammer took a step back.

"If you do that again, I will crush your heart!" Cage shouted.

Zoey trembled. "Mother!"

Zoey's mother had helped her father survive Soy's invasion, and she could protect Crammer from Cage and the other Children of Still. Crammer wished he had never killed that man who had refused to worship Still. He had stopped believing he might have to kill Zoey and her mother. Plus, he had been born a Bloodhound. With his power, he could one day lead Zoey to her father and Lovely. Saving him from the Children of Still would be good, like the moment when Zoey's mother apologized for slapping her earlier.

"You're scaring the girl, Cage," Crammer said, as Zoey's mother remained armed with her Freeman sword.

"It's going to be okay, Zoey," she said.

Cage pointed at Crammer. "Don't take another step, Crammer. If you do, I will use telekinesis to crush your heart."

Crammer clenched his fists. Cage looked at Zoey, then smiled.

"How old are you, Zoey?" he asked.

"She's eleven," Zoey's mother said.

"Your daughter is young, but she can still join us. So can you, Misty."

Zoey's mother averted her gaze. "Freemans!"

Cage and the other Children of Still turned. Cage's back faced Zoey's mother as Freemans remained absent from the hall. She moved her hand toward her pants pocket. Soon, she turned invisible, including her clothes and her sword.

"She lied!" Cage said, sounding furious, as if Zoey's mother had told him Still wasn't good.

He turned, then grunted. Blood came from the hole in his chest, escaping him. He collapsed. The invisible Freeman sword had cut through his back as well. He stopped breathing. Like the Freeman Zoey had killed, Cage had died. Worshiping planet Still hadn't saved him.

The other Children of Still no longer had their backs turned.

"Cage!" a woman shouted, holding a Soynite dagger.

Soon, she was as dead as her fellow cultist. Invisible, Zoey's mother used her sword to kill the other Children of Still, giving them the deaths they deserved.

Zoey let out a relieved sigh. So did Crammer.

"Good job, Misty," he said.

Zoey's victorious mother became visible. She stood six feet tall, and she was thin. Zoey's father used to caress her long brown hair. She had looked at him with her brown eyes many times before. Now she saw Zoey.

"Cage and those other Still worshipers are dead now," she said, as blood dripped off her sword. "It's okay, Zoey."

Crammer pointed at Cage's corpse. "There are more people like him, more purple-wearing fools. And if they're not in this space station, they're probably on Still. I'm glad you killed these Children of Still, Misty. I really am. But don't forget that there are more of them."

"Do they have a leader?"

"Yes," Crammer said. "But I don't want to talk about the Children of Still anymore. I want to do something else."

Crammer moved past Zoey and her mother, then went close to Cage's lifeless body.

He lifted his Freeman sword off the floor. "There's only one way to get rid of my guilt."

"You don't have to kill yourself, Crammer," Zoey said.

"You and your mother should get out of here."

Crammer glanced at each corpse on the floor, the dead Children of Still littering it with their bodies.

"I'm going to be just like them," he said.

Zoey gripped her backpack's straps. Her mother held the sword she had slain the Children of Still with. She stepped closer to Crammer, who stared at his weapon. Zoey had never hated herself for killing someone. Maybe she would one day.

Zoey's mother focused on Crammer. "I'm not going to let you kill yourself, Crammer."

"Get out of here, Misty," he said. "Take Zoey with you."

"No. I'm not going to let you die here."

"You need to."

"I'm not going to let you kill yourself," Zoey's mother said, still holding her sword. "I'm going to force you to stay alive."

Wielding his weapon in one hand, Crammer clenched his fist. "Get out of here."

"No."

"Get out of here!"

"No!" Zoey's mother shouted.

Crammer glared at her. "In that case, you have to die."

He charged. Freeman swords clashed. Zoey's mother and Crammer fought, and Zoey's heart pounded as if a sword had almost slashed her. The one Crammer held could make her mother bleed. It could kill her. If Crammer murdered her, she would never be able to hug Zoey again. If Crammer murdered her mother, who would protect her from her enemies, kiss her forehead, or call her baby?

"Crammer, stop!" Zoey shouted. "Stop it, please!"

Crammer kept fighting.

Zoey's mother swung her sword, and Crammer swung his. The blades crashed against each other. Crammer moved back, going closer to Cage's body. He swung his sword, but it sliced through open space instead of wounding Zoey's mother, missing her. She blocked his sword swings with her weapon. Crammer wanted to kill her, but a certain eleven-year-old girl didn't.

Zoey rushed past her loving mother and Crammer. She grabbed the throwing knife she had used to kill that Freeman. Her mother sliced Crammer's arm with her sword, and he stumbled back. He tripped over Cage's body before crashing onto the floor. His sword left his hand. Zoey raised her throwing knife, ready to use it on him.

Her mother approached Crammer. She slipped her sword into his chest, and he grunted.

Zoey's mother pulled her sword free. "I didn't even have to use my invisibility bracelet to beat you. You shouldn't have tried to kill me, Crammer."

Crammer's sword lay near his hand. Zoey's mother picked it up before tossing it onto a dead Child of Still. Blood left Crammer's chest. Wounded, he had stopped being a threat.

Zoey put the throwing knife on the floor. Her mother took multiple steps away from Crammer, then placed her sword on the floor.

"Are you okay, Mother?" Zoey asked.

Her mother turned to her. "Yes. Come here."

Zoey headed toward her. When they were close enough, they embraced. Zoey couldn't hug Lovely, but she could hug her mother, who had survived her fight with Crammer. She had won it.

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"I'm so happy you're okay," Zoey said.

"Me too," her mother said. After the hug ended, she kissed Zoey's forehead. "We're both okay. And we're going to get out of this place really soon."

Zoey and her mother lifted their weapons off the floor. They moved closer to Crammer. He groaned. How much pain had Lauren felt when that Freeman warrior had shot her?

If Zoey had been able to save her, she would have.

"Misty, take this," Crammer said. He pulled a photograph from his pants pocket. It displayed a younger Crammer, a man, a woman, and a man who seemed to be in his twenties. Crammer placed the picture on the floor. Zoey's mother kneeled, put her sword down, then grabbed the picture. "That's my family. My parents and my younger brother. Freemans killed them during the Invasion, but I think about them every single day. It's like the Invasion never ended. Not for me."

Crammer winced. Blood came from his chest, leaving him. Soon, life would leave his body if nobody healed him. He shut his eyes. Zoey's mother set the picture beside her, and pulled her healing glass from her pants pocket. Crammer still breathed. He could do that tomorrow if Zoey's mother used the healing glass on him.

Her mother lifted Crammer's shirt. She healed the wound in his chest, which she had given him. He opened his eyes. Zoey's mother healed his bleeding arm. After he sat up, she stood.

He glared at her. "You should've just let me die!"

"You need to live, Crammer," Zoey's mother said. "I need you to live. You're going to protect me and my daughter, and that will be your purpose. When you were a Child of Still, you killed a man who didn't deserve to die. You were like Cage. I killed him, and I could've killed you, but I decided not to. You're alive because of me. And I need you to stay alive, because I need you. So does Zoey. You're a Bloodhound. You're also deadly. Me and my daughter need someone like you in our lives. We need you."

Crammer didn't argue with Zoey's mother or glare at her. She ran her thin fingers through his hair.

He looked at the picture on the floor. "Everyone I love is dead."

"If you become friends with me, I will love you forever," Zoey's mother told him.

"You promise?"

"Yes."

Tears left Crammer's eyes. He cried as if his tears might resurrect his dead family.

"Okay," he said. "I'll be your friend. Whatever you want me to do, I'll do it. And I'll protect you and Zoey. I'll die for both of you if I have to. I promise."

Zoey's mother grinned. "Good."

She kneeled, then embraced Crammer. He hugged her back. He showed her affection, but he had never told her or Zoey who led the Children of Still.

"Crammer," Zoey said. He and her mother stopped hugging. They stood. "Who is the leader of the Children of Still?"

"I'm not going to tell you," Crammer said. "I'm not going to tell you, either, Misty. I don't want to talk about those awful people anymore. I never want to talk about them ever again. Unless I absolutely have to, anyway."

"Okay," Zoey's mother said. "But if we ever find the leader of the Children of Still, you'll let me know that's who they are, right?"

"Yes."

Zoey's mother glanced at her, then looked at Crammer. "There's something I have to tell you. I have to whisper it to you. Give me and Crammer some space, baby. Don't go too far, though."

"Okay, Mother," Zoey said.

Holding her throwing knife, she walked away from her mother and Crammer. When she stood near the hall the Children of Still had emerged from, her mother whispered in Crammer's ear. Afterward, she moved her lips away from it. He looked at Zoey, a girl with an absent father, a secret one, and a sister who was a High.

Zoey's mother and Crammer didn't stand far from her. But the space station might have live Freemans in it, and she could die if one attacked her.

"Zoey, it's okay!" her mother said. She gestured for Zoey to come closer. "Come back to us."

Zoey approached her mother. She wielded a throwing knife, but she would never hurt the woman who kept her safe, even though she had hurt Zoey more than once.

Her mother kissed her cheek. "Good girl."

The pile of belongings Zoey's victim had possessed stayed on the floor. He had died wearing a black backpack. Something useful could be inside it.

"I'm going to go see what's in that backpack," Zoey said, as she pointed at the object.

She walked toward the backpack. After kneeling close to it, she placed her throwing knife on the floor. She moved the backpack away from the combat uniform's top. She unzipped its largest pouch, and pulled out X-ray vision goggles. A Soynite object.

Zoey put the goggles on. She focused, then the walls became transparent in her vision. Gazing through the tinted goggles, she looked around. She saw two standing skeletons in the hall. Her mother and Crammer. If Zoey wanted to, she could see their naked bodies. Gross.

"Tell me what you see, Zoey," her mother said.

Zoey saw through walls and floors, but she didn't spot a Freeman.

"I don't see any Freemans," she said.

"Keep looking," her mother replied.

Zoey kept looking, and saw a skeleton standing in a different section within the space station. The hall it stood in had prison cells attached to it.

"There's someone in the prison wing," Zoey said. "They're a Soynite. I can tell. I'm going to see what they look like. The prison cells are empty, by the way."

She focused. Now she saw an old man standing in the prison wing.

"He's a man," she said. "And he's old."

"Give me the goggles," Crammer said. He held his hand out, and Zoey gave him the goggles. He put them on. "Tell me where to look."

Zoey obeyed him.

"I see him," Crammer said. He removed the goggles before handing them to Zoey. "What should we do, Misty?"

"I want you and Zoey to go to that man," her mother said. "I'm going to give you my teleportation stone. See who that person is. Don't teleport into the prison wing, though. I don't want the man to know you'll be able to teleport away from him, just in case he's an evil Soynite. While the two of you are with him, I'll be checking these bodies for supplies."

Soon, Zoey and Crammer teleported into a hall not far from the prison wing.

She held her throwing knife. Crammer held his sword. She had given her X-ray vision goggles to her mother, but they were still hers. Her mother could use them to see into the Children of Still members' pockets. Afterward, she could search for supplies the Freemans kept inside the space station.

Zoey and Crammer walked beside each other. They moved into the hall outside the prison wing, then went close to its door.

"We know you're in there!" Crammer shouted. "And we're Soynites, not Freemans. So don't attack us."

He opened the door. He entered the prison wing, then Zoey did the same.

In the prison wing's hall, twenty cells stood in a row. They had strife in them. So did the hall's walls and floor. Crammer couldn't use his power here, but he had the teleportation stone Zoey's mother had lended him. Each cell door had a window in it. Yet there were no prisoners to look at in this area. The levers near the doors were used to open them. A number in the Freeman language showed on each door.

If Theo had gotten locked inside a prison cell within a Freeman space station, he would be freed, and his enemies would learn what it was like to be killed by the Theo Majestic, the most powerful Soynite.

The old man stood near the door with the Freeman number for three on it. He donned black clothing, but he didn't wear a Soynite pendant. The light glowed against his long white hair, which was the same color as his bushy beard. He looked at Zoey with his brown eyes. Like her, he was thin. The man stood taller than her mother. Yet he was shorter than Crammer. He wielded a Soynite sword, gripping its white handle with his wrinkled hand. Its blade was blue and sharp, and it could kill someone.

"Hello!" the old man said. "My name is Zodiac Angel. And if the two of you are looking for Soynites to free, stop looking. Because there are none of our people in any of these prison cells."

Zodiac moved his sword into the sheath he wore.

"I put my weapon away," he said. "The two of you need to do the same. I need to know you won't try to attack me."

If Zodiac gave Zoey and Crammer trouble, they would teleport to safety. They put their weapons on the floor. Zodiac moved, then stopped a short distance from them. He donned a shirt with long sleeves. He didn't wear a Soynite pendant or purple clothing, and Crammer didn't recognize him as a Child of Still. Maybe he wasn't an evil Soynite.

Zodiac looked at Zoey's shirt, then sighed. "I've been wanting to find Theo Majestic for years. Have the two of you seen him?"

"No," Crammer replied. "Never."

"How did you know I was in here?" Zodiac said.

"I used a pair of X-ray vision goggles. I wish I had a teleportation stone, too."

"What are your names?" Zodiac asked.

"I'm Crammer Cole, and this is Zoey All. She's my friend's daughter."

"Zoey All. Crammer Cole. Don't forget that my name is Zodiac Angel."

Crammer nodded. "Zodiac Angel. I'll remember that."

Zodiac focused on Zoey's face. He inspected her eyes, then looked at her hair.

"How old are you, Zoey All?" he asked.

Zoey had been born eleven years ago. Like Theo, her birthday was the first of January, but he had been alive for a much longer time than she had.

"I'm eleven," she said.

"When's your birthday?" Zodiac said.

"January first."

"Can your mother turn invisible?"

"Yes. She has an invisibility bracelet."

"Before Soy's invasion, did you ever go to outer space?" Zodiac said.

"Yes," Zoey said. "I spent years living in a spaceship with my mother, back before the Freemans attacked Soy."

"I'm so glad they haven't destroyed you, Zoey All. They have destroyed so much, but they haven't destroyed you."

Zodiac grinned, then embraced her. She hugged him back. They hugged like longtime friends who had reunited.

After it ended, Zodiac said, "Let me carry you, Zoey. Hold onto me."

Soon, Zodiac carried Zoey bridal style while she held onto him.

"I'm so glad I can do this," he said. "I truly am."

Zodiac spun in a circle. He didn't slap Zoey. Nor did he try murdering her. He made her feel as if she weren't inside a prison wing where good Soynites might have died. She laughed, then he did the same. Afterward, he let her shoes touch the floor again. He kissed her forehead. Crammer glared at him, looking as if Zodiac had tried hurting her.

"Get away from her!" Crammer demanded.

"No," Zodiac said. As he and Zoey stood in front of each other, he grabbed her hands. "I'm not going to depart from this place without her, Crammer Cole. I'm going to take her with me."

"But I don't want to go with you," Zoey said. "I have to go back to my mother."

Zodiac released her hands before caressing her long brown hair. "We need to be together, Zoey."

"She needs to be with her mother!" Crammer said.

Zoey's mother treated a threat to Zoey like a threat to herself. She had never abandoned her. If Zodiac kidnapped her, she might never see her mother again.

Zoey took a step back, and Crammer did the same. Zodiac stepped closer to Zoey.

"You're a wonderful child," he said. "You need to come with me, and you will."

Crammer moved a hand into his pocket, then he teleported himself and Zoey into the hall where they had last seen her mother. Holding two healing glass squares, she wore the X-ray vision goggles.

"We need to get out of here," Crammer told her. "The man in the prison wing wants to kidnap Zoey."

"What?!" Zoey's mother said. She moved the goggles away from her face, then put the healing glass squares in her pocket. "Give me the teleportation stone."

Crammer obeyed her, giving Zoey's mother the object that could take them into their spaceship. Afterward, they could leave this space station, the place where Zoey had met Zodiac, who acted as if kidnapping her would make him as happy as she had been when she had learned Boone had married her mother.

Zoey, her mother, and Crammer teleported.

Hours later, Zoey lay in her bed. She, her mother, and Crammer had cleaned themselves, then changed into different clothes. Zoey wore a white shirt with short sleeves and blue shorts. She didn't wear shoes or socks.

The floor and the walls were blue, unlike the gray dominating the space station Zoey had left. The spaceship, her home, traveled through outer space. The man Crammer had murdered couldn't travel anywhere. Zoey hadn't been there to save him. She frowned.

Earlier, she had put her X-ray vision goggles in her backpack, which stayed in her closet. The goggles had let her see Zodiac while he couldn't see her. In that prison wing, he had shown her affection, something she couldn't show Lovely.

When Crammer teleported himself and Zoey away from the prison wing, he had left their Freeman weapons there. She would never see her throwing knife again.

Her mother entered the room. Like Crammer, she wore the pendant her parents had gotten for her years ago. She removed it, placed it on the nightstand, then moved into the bed. The lamp on the nightstand shone light against her pendant.

She stroked Zoey's cheek with her thumb. "If that man had taken you from me, I would've found you. We have a Bloodhound living with us now."

Zoey turned to her.

"I know," she said. "And I'm glad he didn't let Zodiac kidnap me. I didn't want to go with him. I wanted to be with you. I still do."

"You're my baby, Zoey," her mother said, as they faced each other. "You deserve to be with me. One day, you're going to be with your father and your sister. Both of us will be."

"I wish we were with them right now."

"I know you do."

Zoey's new friend, Crammer, knew what Cage had sounded like, and he had watched footage of the former Highs giving speeches. He had heard their voices. Like he had heard Zoey, her mother, and Zodiac. Crammer's former friends hadn't left that space station they had gone into, and they never would. But their leader hadn't died.

"I hate that we have to worry about evil Soynites now," Zoey said. "The Children of Still are out there. And so is Zodiac. I wish I knew why he wanted to kidnap me."

"You're not with any evil Soynites right now," Zoey's mother said. "You're with me and Crammer. And if anyone ever takes you away from me, I'll find you. You belong with me. I still remember when I held you for the first time, back when you were a baby. Your birth father wasn't there, and neither was your stepfather. But I was. We had each other, Zoey."

"We still do."

Zodiac hadn't taken Zoey to the place he had planned on taking her to. She could lay in her bed with her mother, away from Zodiac Angel. But she was distant from Lovely, too. Zoey couldn't kiss her cheek, ask her how she felt about being a High, or tell her their father had survived Soy's invasion.

Lauren had died during the attack. She hadn't seen Lovely make it to the outside of that spaceport. Lauren and Zoey never would. One of them had gotten killed years ago, and the other would have to kneel for Lovely, who didn't have to worry about Cage or his dead allies trying to murder her in the future.

"Because of Crammer, I still have you," Zoey's mother said, as her hair touched the pillow her head rested on. "He didn't let that weird man take you from me. No, he used my teleportation stone to get you away from him. Having Crammer on our side is great, right? He's a Bloodhound, and he's also a good friend. A useful one, too. I know that he didn't want to join us earlier, but he eventually did. And I got rid of those Still worshipers who wanted to kill him."

Zoey sighed. "I wish there weren't any more Children of Still out there. I'm glad you killed the ones who were at the space station, though. Crammer is alive because of you."

"Earlier, he wanted to be dead. But that's not what I wanted. When we saw him for the first time, he was a ruined man. He's not one anymore, though. And that's because of what I did for him. Crammer wants to live now. And while he's alive, he's going to keep us safe. He's going to keep helping us. He already helped you when we were still at that space station. He isn't your father, but he's still a great man to have around. We need him."

"And we need him for his power," Zoey said. "Bloodhounds can find anyone, and Father needs to be found. I know you don't want us to be with him right now, but you're going to make Crammer find him for us one day, right?"

"Of course I will. I still love your father, and I always will. Just like I'll always love you. You know that. Father is going to be with us again, and Crammer will still be with us when that time comes. All of us will be together, including your sister. I want you and Lovely to see each other one day. I hope it happens. You deserve to be happy, Zoey."

Zoey smiled. Her mother did, too.

"Thanks, Mother," she said. "Thanks for everything."

Zoey's mother put a hand on her cheek. "You're welcome, baby."

The hand on Zoey's cheek was comforting, like seeing a Freeman turn into smoke. One of Lock's warriors would never kill her. She had thrown a knife into a Freeman's head. She had killed him. After finding Lovely, Zoey could protect her from other Freemans.

"I hope Lovely is okay," she said. "I hope Don Ascend's daughter is, too. And all of the other Highs."

"Their Watchers are keeping them safe," her mother said. "Like I'm keeping you safe. I'm sure that Lovely is fine. She has Marina, who loves her. She will do her best to protect her. Father believes that, and so do I."

She moved her hand away from Zoey's cheek.

"I'm going to sleep with you tonight," she said. "Right now, I want to stay with you. I almost lost you earlier."

Zoey kissed her mother's cheek. "I'm still here, Mother. You didn't lose me, and that's what matters."

"You're right. You tend to be right a lot. You're such a clever girl."

"And you're such a clever mother."

Zoey rested a hand on her pillow. Her mother grabbed it. They had held hands inside the Freeman space station, and they did it now. The comforter lay on them. Zoey's father had seen a blanket wrapped around Don's daughter. Maybe she would become friends with a Bloodhound, like Zoey had done.

"My baby is a very sweet girl," her mother said. "Hopefully, you will stay that way forever."

"I plan to," Zoey said.

Her mother shut her eyes. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

When Zoey's mother fell asleep, their hands still touched. Her face stayed in front of hers. Zoey closed her eyes. Minutes passed as her mother's hand brought warmth to hers. Their enemies couldn't hurt them.

Zoey slept.