Chapter 39: Ram's Lineage

I emerged into the monitor station with a heavy heart, to find Mabel waiting for me, but noting my sister and grandfather

were gone.

"Sydlynn took Henemordonin back to Ostrogotho," Mabel said. "By force."

I nodded. "It's bad," I said. "We felt another plane leave, but couldn't stop it. The Node is coming apart in slices and

there's nothing I can do about it."

Mabel's hand touched my shoulder, the contact bringing my sagging head up. "We will find out the truth of this," she

said. "And we will save your planes."

I wished I shared her confidence. I led her through the veil to the Node. It greeted her with some enthusiasm, though it

almost felt sleepy to me. We'd talked, before the present mess made my life a different kind of hell, about how Ahbi and

Syd had changed the Node. How their presence had altered it somehow. That deep quiet I'd sensed earlier was a different