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"You think he'll talk?"

I filled her in about the Ohrurs' pain tolerance and the waterboarding and sleep deprivation we had tried so far.

"Nice." Sloane nodded at me with approval. Then she looked at Luph. "That sleeping stuff you gave me yesterday. Are you some kind of healer?"

"We don't really need healers anymore. We have healing wands," Luph replied. "But to answer your question, I do know how to make certain remedies."

"Let me see, please." Sloane requested and Luph retrieved the wand we had used yesterday to heal Sloane's ankle. "Oh, I think I remember that now. Let me borrow that. Also, do you have a potion that will make someone violently sick, like throwing up?"

Luph shook her head. "I can make something, but why would you?—"

"Give it to me, and I'll make your alien talk," Sloane promised.

"That I've got to see." Nova boxed me in the side, and I agreed with her.

"Nock is streaming the whole thing. Not live, live, but we can watch it," Zoe suggested.

"Is there anything else you need to know from the Ohrur?" Sloane asked before she left.

"We want to contact the other Space Guardians, but their names are encrypted on the Ohrur database, and we haven't figured it out yet. If we can get their names, I can try to contact them and convince them to join… our little rebellion." I tried to lighten up our entire mission a little but failed because that's exactly what we were doing. Creating a rebellion.

Last night, we had decided that if we could ever crack the code, I would be the point of contact with the other Space Guardians. I wasn't sure why or how good I would be, but Zoe and Luph were digging through databases to find more on Darlam's history while Nova hacked into all kinds of secured sites. For reasons only she and Nock knew, but they always came up with something new and surprising. Unfortunately, neither one of them had been able to crack the encrypted code.

"I'll have that to you in a jiffy." Sloane sent an encouraging grin my way, and a few minutes later, we dropped her off by the cell Noodar had prepared for Possedion, and the rest of us stormed back into the break room to watch on the projector through Nova's comm that was linked to Nock's.

THARAAX

The new human female,Sloane, entered the cell like a vortex. She shouldered Zaarek and Vraax out of the way on her way in and moved straight toward Possedion, who sat on a chair.

He hadn't given us anything other than what we already knew. Getting to Darlam's surface was impossible for us unless we found three Ohrurs willing to go planetside to disarm the forceshield. Which was next to impossible.

"All right, I've been told you don't feel pain." Sloane moved straight for him, her eyes focused like blaster beams, her expression cold and menacing. She was a strikingly beautiful woman, with flaming red hair and a diamond-shaped face that revealed nothing when she didn't smile. Taller than most of the other women, she carried herself with an air of authority that made her presence commanding.

"You don't scare me, human female," Possedion scoffed.

"Does he need both hands?" Sloane asked us without looking away from Possedion.

"Not necessarily," Zaarek answered a little hesitantly.

"Give me a knife." Sloane held out her hand, still not breaking eye contact with the Ohrur.

Vraax looked questioningly from one of us to the other and when we all nodded, he put a blade into Sloane's outstretched hand, handle first.

With her foot, Sloane pulled the table closer, then she grabbed Possedion's hand and laid it flat on the surface, and before anybody could react or Possedion fought her, she severed his hand. Frygg, that female was savage.

Vraax exhaled loudly next to me, his expression filled with admiration and astonishment.

She pulled out a healing wand and held it against the stump.

"You should be afraid of me, little man. Very, very afraid." Sloane healed his bleeding wound.

Possedion glared at her. He wasn't crying out in pain, but the loss of his hand did seem to affect him.

"Damn, I wish I had thought of that," Raasla said admiringly.

"That's my mate." Vraax's chest swelled with pride.

"Now I've heard you're holding back on how we can get to Darlam," Sloane continued.