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just get it to you. Somehow.” Marta smiled and patted his cheek. “I think she likes you.”
    He gave her a narrow-eyed look. “What do you know about me?”
    Marty walked to the edge of the viewing window and she looked out. “She mentioned you at least twice in every conversation we had. Her expression would get all soft and dreamy for a bit and then she would shake herself into being serious again. She spent too much time being serious.”
    “What do you expect me to do?”
    He crossed his arms and she watched his reflection in the thick barrier between her and the vacuum.
    “I expect you to act on whatever is on that crystal. I expect you to find my sister, and I expect to be embarrassed when you both get into whatever is running below the surface.”
    “You really feel what she does?”
    “Remotely, like through a filter. She knew when I went into labour, but she also felt my shock when I realized I was pregnant. She came over with a six pack of fruit juice and held my hair while I puked for two hours.”
    He looked at her via the glass. “You miss her.”
    “I miss the life she brought to me. Everything was brighter when she was on the other end of the connection, now it is just blank. I know she is still out there, but she isn’t answering the call.”
    “That must be frustrating.”
    “Well, it has taxed my marriage, but hopefully, you will find her or find someone who can.” Marta smiled and turned to face him. “If you will excuse me, I have to rejoin the group. Good luck. My sanity and her life are now squarely on your shoulders.”
    Ikvaro narrowed his eyes again. “You are trusting me with her life?”
    Martha patted him on the arm. “Aggie trusted you with her life. I am merely trusting my sister.”
    She fought the tears as she walked back toward the diplomatic tour. Her husband had called in every favour he could to get her on that tour, and she hoped he hadn’t wasted the effort. He would have hacked off his own limbs to make her happy, and it was nice to know he made the offer. Marty would never ask that of someone she loved, but she would do anything remotely possible to help someone she loved.
    She really hoped that Aggie had been right about Ikvaro because it was all up to him now.
     
    * * * *
     
    Ikvaro spoke to the base commander and resigned his contract.
    Trainer Ikvaro returned to his quarters and emerged in his Enforcer uniform. The ship that he caught was on its way out to Nodak station. He sent information ahead, and when he arrived, a ship was waiting. Commander Pen was also waiting for him, a smirk on his face.
    “So, what are we hunting for? An escaped prisoner? An assassin?”
    Ikvaro clapped him on the shoulder and moved past him, into the ship. “A missing Keeper.”
    Pen came in behind him and stowed their gear with the ease of long practice. “Really? Why are you bothering with a Keeper?”
    In the grand scheme of things, Keepers were one step above private security. They were not a highly prized occupation.
    Ikvaro did the preflight checks and glanced over at Pen as he settled in the navigator station. “I am bothering with her because she and I have a connection that I wish to awaken.”
    “A woman who didn’t fall over for you? This is a woman I have to meet.” Pen grinned, his exceptional good looks as irritating as always.
    “Can you track her if I have something of hers?”
    Pen nodded. “Of course. I can at least point us in the right direction. Where is she?”
    “I don’t know. She went missing twenty months ago.”
    He got clearance and eased them from the station. The transport from the moon base had been painfully slow. He wanted to get free and into untapped communication routes. He had no idea what was on that crystal, but he was hoping that it held clues to her location.
     

Chapter Four
     
     
    Ikvaro slipped the crystal into the reader and smiled at the display.
    “Ikvaro, if you are seeing this, then I have been out of commission for a