Free Being of the Field by Traci Harding Page B

only because I have such extraordinary powers of subconscious recognition that I began to suspect I’d been involved in the burglary.’
    Kassa nodded to concede the point. ‘That would also explain how a spy on board could conceal their intentions from me.’
    ‘And what of Eleazar Kestler? Could he too have been involved without conscious knowledge?’
    Kassa had gone very pale. ‘It makes me sick to think that Lucian was diligent in keeping the corrupt away from our work but even all the way out here, covert operators have managed to infiltrate our tightknit crew.’
    ‘Yeah, and I’m the key member of the covert op.’ Taren hated that she’d been party to it all.
    ‘No, Taren.’ Kassa stopped, stressing her words. ‘Our enemies didn’t know how badly they would cut their own throat by sending you to us. You’re a very brave woman, one of the bravest I’ve ever known, and you will be this project’s saving grace, I know it.’
    This was the nicest thing that anyone had ever said to Taren. ‘Thanks…but I don’t think Lucian is sharing that viewpoint right now.’
    ‘You’re fond of him, aren’t you?’ Kassa sounded a little sorry for her.
    ‘It’s just a schoolgirl crush really,’ Taren shrugged it off and punched in the code that opened the lab door. ‘I hardly know the man, bar that he is obviously and happily married.’
    ‘Perhaps.’ Kassa hated to think that Taren’s foreboding about Amie could prove to be valid but she had an awful feeling about it.
    ‘Do you sense something regarding Amie?’ Taren wondered aloud.
    Kassa merely shook her head. ‘I just wish she’d bloody well make an appearance and put us all out of our misery!’
    Lucian was clearly distraught when Taren and Kassa returned to his office. ‘What prompted you to ask after the whereabouts of my wife?’ He demanded an answer from Taren the second she set foot through his door.
    ‘Why?’ Taren didn’t like the note of panic in his voice.
    ‘No one has seen Amie for at least two shifts. She was headed to see me when she was last spotted this time yesterday .’ He was full of fear, which was highly out of character. ‘She never arrived.’
    Taren didn’t want to tell Lucian what she’d seen in her vision and looked to Kassa for aid.
    ‘Kassa?’ Lucian understood that she’d been made privy to Taren’s reasons.
    ‘Taren had a prophetic vision regarding Amie at the same time that she had a vision of the theft,’ Kassa began diplomatically.
    ‘What did you see?’ Lucian directed the query at Taren, having lost all desire to be diplomatic. He did not doubt Taren’s abilities, as precognition had been a large part of Taren’s work with the MSS.
    ‘I could be wrong…’ Taren hesitated again.
    ‘I’ve read your MSS files, Dr Lennox. I know you have never been wrong.’
    Lucian’s certainty stunned Taren a little; people weren’t usually eager believers. ‘To tell you what I saw would be to influence the outcome in this affair. Outcomes are influenced by what we all collectively believe, Lucian. I don’t want to direct energy into the wrong probability. I have not had the sight in a long time, so my senses may not be as attuned as they once were. Neglected for ten years, any talent is bound to suffer.’
    Lucian could see what she was saying but it brought him no peace. ‘Your vision regarding the theft seems to be proving true enough.’
    ‘That event was most likely one that I witnessed first-hand, so I’m employing nothing more than subconscious recall to perceive the information. To know what has become of Amie would require ESP, unless I have taken up sleepwalking. In other words, there is a greater chance of me being wrong about Amie’s whereabouts.’
    ‘But the very fact that you knew she’d gone missing, when no one else has noticed! Please…’ Lucian appealed. ‘Your insight cannot be worse than all these terrible scenarios running through my mind.’
    ‘Give energy to the good