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I shook my head. "But if they were all killed, then…" I trailed off, realizing why he had distanced himself from the Darlams. I reached for him. "So you think Possedion told the truth when he said you were born and raised in a…"

He nodded. "I'm starting to believe that I am what you called alab baby."

He looked so forlorn that I stood, pulling his nonresistant body up with me. Of course he rose with me. Otherwise, I would have never been able to pull him onto his feet.

"Let's go talk to that bastard some more," I suggested in a dark voice. And if we had to waterboard him again, I would do it myself this time. That bastard deserved everything that was coming to him. Any scruples I had before left because of what his ancestors had done. No, I didn't think he was responsible for what they had done, but he was responsible for what they were still doing.

THARAAX

The importanceof the things I had found out weighed heavily on my shoulders and chest. I still didn't know how my memories fit into that, but then I had to ask myself if those were really memories or something I had only dreamed up.

No, Suahaana was real. The love I felt for her was too real to only be someone I had dreamed up. All I knew was that this puzzle was far from being figured out yet.

We entered the room, where Possedion still lay tied to the table. The room stank because he hadn't had a way of voiding himself, and I cursed myself for that oversight. His lids were heavy, and he barely reacted when I untied him.

"I'm going to take him to the cleansing chamber," I told Hannah, who scrunched up her nose.

"I'll get some cleaning drones in here," she agreed.

Possedion was barely a shell of the man I had initially kidnapped. We might need to postpone further interrogations until he regained some of his strength. I didn't want to kill him yet.

When I had him cleansed and returned to the main room, it was back in perfect order.

Possedion had regained some level of consciousness during the cleansing process, but he was fading again fast.

"He's gonna need a break," I told Hannah, who glared at him.

I could feel her hate for Possedion emanating from her and began to worry that she was getting too close. I didn't want her to feel this way for a man or cause that was my responsibility.

"That's all right. We're going to Darlam, and we'll find all the answers we need there," Hannah replied.

A loud cackle from Possedion startled both of us.

"What?" I asked, holding him up by his shoulder.

"You'll never set foot on Darlam." His voice was muffled, and his chuckles didn't help understand him any better.

"What do you mean?" I demanded.

"I mean that Darlam is surrounded by a forcefield that destroys any ship trying to enter." He cackled louder. His weight was getting heavier as I held him up because his legs were giving in. He needed sleep. But he was talking.

"How do we turn that forcefield off?" I nearly shook him.

"You can't." He snickered, his eyes closing.

He was out.

Frygg.

I dropped him on the ground. I needed to give him time to sleep and recover, but I wasn't about to put him to bed. He could sleep on the floor for all I cared.

"We should bring some food and drink and leave it here for when he wakes up," Hannah suggested.

"We'll do that later. I need to check on our status."

The fact that Darlam was surrounded by a forcefield changed things dramatically. My initial plan was to fly there unless I met Zaarek and Nock on UX938, but if they were already on their way and attempted to land, they would face certain death.

I couldn't let that happen.