"I'm not a beast," Sal insisted, looking at them, one after the other. "I know you think my kind are primitive, but I've studied for years, I am well versed in both military and civilian protocols, I – "

The Lieutenant shook his head, cutting her off with a lift of his hand. "Don't assume, Private. Breathe. How much human sugar do you smell?"

She shook her head, confused.

"That sweet scent. Do you smell it?"

"Barely," she admitted.

"That's probably me," Shift said.

Sal glanced toward the Lieutenant. "And him."

Razor sucked in a breath. "Whoa. That's perceptive."

She turned to him. "A hint on you, too."

Arctic chuckled. "How about me?"

Sal inhaled. "Barely. It's there, but I have to search for it. Humans never said anything about it, I thought everyone smelled sweet, except after combat."

LT laughed. "After combat we smell even sweeter, from the human blood. From your file, you have little experience with iliri, so I'm not surprised that you have no idea. I'm just pleased to see you're still able to think for yourself. Too many of us have lost that."

She noticed he included himself in the iliri. Blaec Doll had fair skin, but the wrong shade to be suspected of iliran ancestry. No different than any other citizen of the Conglomerate.

The Lieutenant watched her eyes roam across him and smiled. "I'm half. Shift is a quarter. Razor is around forty percent. Arctic, you're three quarters, right?"

"A bit over, but about that."

Sal felt her heart stop. "Iliri?"

"Yes." The Lieutenant smiled and leaned closer. "We're iliri crossbreds. That's why we're so good. Now you want to tell me how you managed to get into our mental link, Salryc Luxx?"

"Sal." She looked up, hoping she hadn't over stepped her bounds.

His pale eyes warmed and he inhaled deeply before daring to taste her name. "Sal." It rolled off his tongue naturally.

Trying to cover her confusion with a direct answer, she rambled on, "I don't know how I heard your thoughts, sir. The First Sergeant touched me and I began to hear his voice in my head. I've never had it happen before."

"And I shook her hand," Shift added. "She's a natural. Comes through clear."

Really? The Lieutenant's voice slid into her mind. How?

I don't know, sir. I just hear it.

And you just think back? How do you know what to do?

I don't know. She looked down, unable to hold his eyes.

Arctic broke in. "She's not leaking at all. She's locked onto her channel but receptive to all of them. I don't know how she's doing it. If I wasn't looking for her, I probably wouldn't even know she's here." He tapped his head. "Pretty sure she's piggybacking without knowing it."

The Lieutenant dragged his hand across his mouth. "But you can't shut her off?"

"Dunno, never met anyone who could do it before. I've only heard about it. But it might help to put her into the link. That would at least let me moderate her access." Arctic shrugged. "Tethering her will be easy enough."

A deep baritone asked in her head, So, do you have to touch each of us, or can you just hear us? He sounded like he was talking from a distance.

Sal cocked her head slightly. "No. I hear that, but it's muffled."

Razor offered his hand and Sal touched it lightly. How about now? he asked.

As clear as if you used your voice, Sal told him.

"Yep, touching clears it up, but the lack isn't stopping her any."

"But I didn't need to touch the Lieutenant to hear him." She looked over to Arctic, hoping for an explanation.

He shrugged. "LT's been doing this his whole life. He sends better than the rest of us."

"I had no idea this was even possible. I assure you, I had no intention of causing you problems."

LT laughed. "I'm pretty sure you didn't." He turned to Arctic and nodded. "Do it."

She felt a strange shift in her head, but nothing else. Beside her, the men sighed, obviously experiencing something as well. "She's in," Arctic said.

Slowly, the Lieutenant held out his hand, palm up. "Let me show you something."

She didn't want to touch him but knew it's what he expected. Meekly, Sal reached over and lay her hand against his, hearing him inhale as if surprised. Instead of the slick, disturbing feeling she expected, his skin was warm and soft, the calluses from hours of sword work comfortable and reassuring. He closed his eyes and let his fingers wrap around the back of her palm, holding her to him. For a long moment he didn't move, then his eyes snapped open.

My mother had eyes like yours, he thought, followed with a picture of an iliri woman. There aren't many like you left.

Do they know? She meant the other officers.

Yes. We don't keep secrets from each other, but we also don't share them with outsiders.

I understand. She shuffled the image far back in her mind.

"Anything?" LT asked suddenly.

"Nope." Razor shook his head.

"Not a hint," Shift said.

"I got every word, and the location she stored the memory," Arctic assured him.

LT nodded, "And?"

"It's put back about as tight as she can. I can show her how to do it better, but I've never seen a novice with such control."