Palos had reared, and Aria had fallen—hard. The breath had exploded from her lungs with a whoosh, and things had very quickly turned gray and misty. Aria had felt as if she was gently falling into a warm, woolen blanket that had been stretched out to catch her…
“Did the procedure go as planned?”
Aria was in a bed, but she didn’t recognize it. This wasn’t her room. Where was she? Who was speaking?
“Optimal results, sir. The device was implanted without rejection and is live.” A woman. She sounded professional.
“Good.” A deep, masculine rumble. “Now, no matter where I go, or she goes, I will know the whereabouts and safety of my child.”
Wait…what?
She felt a hand on her forehead—rough, strong, warm.
“They will never separate us again, my daughter.”
Again she was falling, falling, back into that warm, woolen blanket…
Aria opened her eyes as the door hissed open and Jack walked into the room. His expression was somber.
“What is it?” she asked, wrapping the blanket more tightly around her.
“Not great news,” replied Jack. “Our resident medic says that the tech in your leg is beyond him. We need a proper medical facility.”
“Okay,” said Aria uncertainly. “So what’s the next step?”
“A proper medical facility,” replied Jack. “We go to Tarma as planned. Their medical technology is top shelf. If anyone has what we need, they will.”
Aria nodded. “All right. Sounds like a plan. But if I leave this room, won’t the signal broadcast be detectable again?”
“I’m not sure how to work that part out,” Jack admitted. “I’m hoping Madeline’s people will have some kind of answer. Worst-case scenario, the signal is broadcast for as long as it takes us to get you from here to another Faraday cage we construct in a med-lab on Tarma.”
“So then whoever implanted this device will know I’m on Tarma,” said Aria doubtfully.
“Yeah,” said Jack. “It’s not ideal. Do you have any idea who implanted this device in the first place? Is there anything you remember?”
Aria shifted uncomfortably on the bench. “It’s all I’ve been thinking about. I remember a few things, but not much…whatever meds they had me on after the fall were pretty heavy. I woke up in a room I didn’t recognize, and people were talking about me.”
“What people? What were they saying?” Jack pressed.
“I didn’t recognize the people. A man and a woman. I’m pretty sure the woman was a doctor. The man…” She shuddered.
“What is it?”
“The man called me hisdaughter,” she said uncomfortably.
Jack sat back. “But the voice wasn’t your father’s?”
“No. It was very distinct. Totally different from my father’s,” said Aria. “What on Palamar does that mean?”
“Hmm…” mused Jack. “Do you remember anything that he said specifically?”
“He said…he said, ‘They will never separate us again, my daughter,’” replied Aria, shivering.
The pirate’s eyes narrowed. “Were you adopted?”
“I didn’t think so…until now. Now, I have no idea. Jack, who could this manbe? Why would my family lie about who I was?”
“I have no idea,” said Jack. “It’s a hell of a mystery.”
