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“They can control you?”

“Not really. But they can make me afraid enough that leaving isn’t an option.”

“What about when you’re asleep?”

“They watch over me. If someone sneaks up on me, they’ll shoot him—or her—at the first sign of trouble.”

Colleen frowned. “That’s unpleasant.”

“I just think of it as a security system.”

“You could be drugged.”

“No, I can’t. The nanobots process drugs and poisons and render them ineffective almost immediately.”

“Amazing.”

Hella shrugged. She was what she was. She didn’t question the way her body worked any more than she questioned Stampede’s ability to manipulate the earth with his power.

“You’ve been wounded before?”

“Sure.”

“What about that blood?”

Hella shook her head. “The nanobots don’t leave my body. Stampede had a friend examine bandages from when I’d been shot. When he looked, there weren’t any nanobots in the blood.”

“They stayed in your body.”

“Maybe. Stampede thinks maybe they deconstruct themselves when they’re outside of me. Don’t leave anything behind.”

“Interesting.” Colleen rubbed a knuckle against her chin as she thought about what she’d been told. Blood streaked her thin face. “What about the lizard?”

“Daisy? I found her when she was a baby and kept her.”

Colleen smiled and she looked more human than Hella had ever imagined she would. “That sounds like something my daughter would do.”

“You have a daughter?”

“Yes.” Colleen stripped off her gloves and took a PDA from her pocket. She punched a couple of buttons then showed the summoned image to Hella. The PDA screen showed a little girl, maybe eight or nine, with mouse brown hair like her mother. The girl clutched a pink pig to her cheek and smiled happily.

“Nice kid.” Hella didn’t know anything else to say. Most of the kids she met in the trade camps or on the roads were thieves and con artists in the making. None of them would have held a stuffed pig like that unless they were trying to make someone else think it was worth something.

“She is a wonderful child.” Colleen smiled tenderly at the image.

“Why didn’t you bring her with you?”

The smile slipped and almost gave way to sadness. Then Colleen put away the PDA. “She’s safer at home. I couldn’t bring her to this place.” She cleared her throat. “So you found Daisy. Did you know that she was going to grow so large?”

“No.”

“But you’re not afraid of her? She seems awfully fierce.”

“She is fierce. Daisy will defend me or Stampede to the death.”

“How do you know that?”

Hella shrugged. “Because she told me.”

That seemed to surprise Colleen. “The lizard can speak to you?”

“No. But she thinks things. Something like that, I know what she’s thinking.”

“I see.”

Though the professor said that, Hella didn’t really think the woman did. Then she changed her mind. “You’re psi sensitive, aren’t you?”

For a moment Colleen looked as if she wouldn’t answer. Then she let out a long breath. “I am, though Dr. Pardot would think me remiss for giving out such information.”

“There wasn’t much to give out. Stampede and I already had that figured.”

“You’re very observant.”

“Keeps us alive. So what can you do?”

“Every now and again, I can see glimpses of the future. Sometimes those glimpses just surround an event. Other times they focus on an individual.” Colleen grimaced. “Unfortunately most of those glimpses are tainted with darkness and evil.”

“You can also track ripples.”

Colleen pressed her lips firmly together and looked even more stressed. “It might be a good idea not to let Dr. Pardot know you’re in possession of such knowledge.”

“All right. But you can sense the ripples?” It was a lot for the woman to admit to. Such an ability would be highly prized by many people. Not for the first time, Hella wondered what the lab where the scientists came from was like.

“Yes.”

“Is that why you’re here in the Redblight? To track ripples?”

“I’m afraid you’re way past anything I feel comfortable answering at this point.” Colleen glanced around at the security guards. “Dr. Pardot keeps a tight rein on things.”