Scout led the way, though Betsy knew the layout of the house well enough. In Thorn’s room, Viera lay in the bed, eyes shut. Betsy placed a hand on her forehead. She felt fine. “Has she woken up since she passed out yesterday?”

“No. She’s just slept the whole time. Should we get a doctor?” Thorn pulled a chair up and sat, clasping Viera’s hand in hers. She gnawed on her lower lip, obviously worried.

Betsy sat on the side of the bed. She hadn’t done much healing or magical mojo, but she’d studied the theory with her father and some of the other Pillars. Viera was drained, and probably depressed. “Can you get a cup of coffee and something she can eat? If I can wake her up, she’s going to need both.”

Thorn nodded and headed out.

“Okay, Viera, here goes nothing.” Betsy placed one hand on Viera’s chest, the other on her forehead. She closed her eyes and imagined her magic was a river. All I need to do is push a bit of my river over a waterfall into Viera. Not a lot, just enough for her to wake up and start to build up her own reserves.

She imagined a slow trickle of her magic dripping down from her into Viera. Betsy breathed slowly and deliberately, her body trembling with the effort of siphoning the magic away. The process was anathema to everything she’d learned. Her reservoir of magic was vast, she had plenty to give, but the idea was just plain weird.

After what felt like hours, but was probably only a minute or so, Betsy heard a stuttering breath. The muscles under Betsy’s hand tensed then trembled. “Betsy? What are you doing?”

With a sigh, Betsy pulled back and opened her eyes, smiling down at her friend. “Look at you, being awake and stuff. How do you feel?”

“Tired. Weak. Shaky.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “You wouldn’t happen to have coffee? Do you?” Her tone was so hopeful, a smile spread across Betsy’s face. “Wait, where am I? And why are you here?”

“She doesn’t, but I do,” Thorn said from the doorway. “You don’t know how thrilled I am that you’re awake.”

Viera tried to sit but failed. Betsy took the items Thorn carried so she could slip in behind Viera, helping her up. Then Betsy gave her the coffee first. Viera groaned in appreciation.

Once Viera had enough in her to sit on her own, she looked around the room. “We’re not on the ship, but my last memories … they aren’t a nightmare, are they?”

Betsy shook her head. “No, they aren’t.”

“Are the damn bugs attacking here, then? Do you need me at top magical ability? I’ll fight, even if it’s just throwing rocks.”

Betsy’s shoulders drooped, though she saw Thorn smile at that comment. At least that wasn’t where they were. “No, but I … we, if you want to join me, have a meeting with the government officials in an hour. Mr. Juk Hopkins himself.”

“Last time it took a few days to get a meeting. How did you get one so quickly this time?” Viera sounded impressed.

“Oh! I haven’t called him yet. Shall I do that now? I wanted to make sure you’d be up for the meeting before I called.”

Viera smiled. “Yeah, let’s see how much time I have to shower. I may want to head up to the ship and take a soak or five.”

Thorn slapped her forehead. “For fuck’s sake, I should’ve done that, shouldn’t I? It would’ve helped, right?”

Betsy shrugged. “Maybe. I’m surprised Flower Prancer didn’t mention it.”

Viera rolled her eyes at the mention of her trainer.

Pulling out her phone, Betsy dialed Juk’s direct phone number. “Hello?” His young voice sounded almost professional. “Juk Hopkins.”

The hesitancy of his voice made Betsy smirk. She didn’t know why his boss assigned such a young pup, except that they must have known it didn’t matter. They were all young pups to her. “Hi, Mr. Hopkins. It’s Betsy Doeth. Viera Kor and I need to come in and speak with you today. We can be there in an hour or two, whichever works better for you.”

The poor boy sputtered for a full minute before he could get words out. “Ms. Doeth, how did you get my direct number? I didn’t even know I had a direct office number.”

“You read my files, Mr. Hopkins. Let’s not back-slide. This is important. One hour or two?” She tried to be succinct, but worried she’d have to go over his head again.

“You don’t understand. I’m busy. I couldn’t meet with you for at least a week.” She could hear papers and typing in the background as he floundered.

“That won’t work. Two choices. One hour or two.” Her voice had hardened. After this event, she was going to go to his boss and get a better point-person. She deserved better than this.

“I just don’t know if that’s possible, Ms. Doeth. Is it a matter of national security?”

She sighed. “Mr. Hopkins. Are you going to give me a time to meet? One hour or two? If not, the decision will be made for you. Remember what happened to your predecessor.”

He laughed … laughed. “Oh, Ms. Doeth, I’m not worried about that. Next time, call by proper channels. I can talk to my aide, and we can find a time next week. Maybe next week Thursday?”

Betsy hung up. “Go up to the ship, shower and soak. Come back for breakfast. I’ll get this meeting arranged.” She knew she sounded annoyed. But someone in New York was about to be much more annoyed.

Viera gathered an outfit, grabbed her coffee, then went to the panel and requested a direct transmit to Thorn’s room on the Ziner. Thorn went with her.

Once they were gone, Betsy found the number for Orson Mard, the head of the government department Juk worked in. His boss’s boss. Or was there another layer? Didn’t matter, he’d make sure Juk learned how things worked.

“Hello?” Orson’s deep voice came through the phone.

“Orson? It’s Betsy.”

“Betsy! My friend. It’s been too long. Why don’t you call me more often?” He sounded genuinely happy.

“Well, you always assign new pups to be my point-people. Why don’t you give me someone I don’t have to train?” She huffed in frustration.

“You’re my best trainer, dear. Have been for years. A few years with you and I have the best international agents a department can ask for.”

She grumbled. “That’s not my job, Orson. And the last two you’ve given me are the worst. I called Juk, told him I need to meet today. I said he could have one or two hours. He said to call through proper channels next time, and we could meet next week Thursday.”

Orson scoffed. “Does the boy know it’s Monday and that’s a week and a half away?”

“I don’t know.”

“How important is this?”

Betsy rubbed her forehead. “In a level of one to five, it’s about a twenty-seven.”

He sighed. “Okay, meet in the main conference room in an hour and a half.”

“Sounds perfect. Will you be there?”

“No, I’m in Maine. I can’t get to the office in that time.”

Betsy had explained her situation to him several times, but he didn’t want to transport. “Okay, I’ll let you know of the outcome, but I’m not holding my breath. This point-person isn’t worthy of my time. You need to find someone better.”

“Fine, fine. I’ll put it on my to-do list.”

***

Betsy and Viera walked into the government building just over an hour later. There was a desk blocking the stairs and elevator with two security officers. Betsy went to the first officer and gave their names, and they each showed their IDs. They were waved through to the elevator.