“I'm Lena Drask.” Lena hesitated a moment and then shook his hand.
It was a normal hand made of flesh, warm and with a firm grip. But after a second, the warmth shivered between them, and the lieutenant's brown eyes widened. Lena jerked her hand away.
“I'm so sorry, Miss Drask. I don't know what that was. Did I hurt you?” Lieutenant Greis stammered.
“No, I was just surprised. I'm fine.” Lena looked down to avoid all the curious stares directed at her.
“What did you feel?” Vor leaned in but didn't touch her.
“It was nothing. Just a strange vibration.” Lena glanced up at him, found only concern in his expression, and lifted her head to meet his gaze. “I may have imagined it.”
“You didn't imagine it, Miss Drask. My tech shivered when I took your hand. Even now, I can feel . . . I'm not sure what. I simply feel better. As if my tech needed maintenance.”
“Impossible,” Corporal Shensar huffed.
Lena grimaced, thinking about the scandalous dress the woman had brought her.
“Step forward and introduce yourself, Corporal.” Vor motioned at Lena.
The woman blanked her expression and stepped forward. Lena stared at her warily.
The corporal held out her hand. “Corporal Hena Shensar.”
“Nice to meet you, Corporal.” Lena shook the woman's hand.
Once more, that strange vibration shivered against Lena's palm. But this time, it was the Nethren woman who jerked away.
“You tried to converge me!” Shensar rubbed her hand and glared at Lena.
“No, I didn't.” Lena drew back.
“Stand down, Corporal!” Vor growled. “Lena can't converge you. What did you feel when you shook her hand?”
“She sent energy through me!” The woman glared at Lena. “It . . .” Her eyes fluttered. “What is that?” Her hand slid down her thigh and clenched. “It feels good. Stronger.”
“As if the tech has woken up, right? Like it was asleep before, just barely functioning.” Greis nodded eagerly. “Sergeant, you next!” He waved another man toward Lena.
“Hold on!” Lena backed away. “I don't understand what's happening, and I don't like this.”
“Afraid you're helping the enemy?” Shensar sneered.
“Corporal!” Vor pointed at her. “If you don't want the gifts that Lena offers, you don't have to receive them, but you will not speak to her like that.”
“Yes, Commander,” the woman muttered.
Then Vor turned toward Lena. “We don't understand it either, but I trust in Source, and it led me to you. Don't you want to know what you're capable of? This could be your destiny, Lena.”
“To strengthen the Nethren?” Lena whispered. “I don't think so.”
Shensar snorted.
Vor glared at her, and the corporal went back to her desk. Then he held out his hand to Lena. “This isn't about strengthening us. You are tuning us to the surface. To our true selves. You are showing us who we are meant to be. And I believe that your touch upon my people will lead us to peace with yours. Don't you want that, Lena? Para at peace at last.”
Lena stared into Vor's gray-blue eyes, so eager and honest. Yet, she couldn't trust him. She couldn't even trust her own feelings for him. Vor was weakening her defenses, and Lena knew it. He made her feel as if she were safe and cherished. It had to be a trick. And she was falling for it.
Then she felt it. A shivering lightness rising inside her. It was in her and yet not of her. Similar to the vibrations she felt when she touched a Nethren, but more intense. It was glittering, bright, and beautiful, filling her chest with a sense of rightness and purpose. Suddenly, the courage inside her magnified. Clarity cleared away the confusion. Lena saw a path toward peace and knew she could only walk it beside Vor.
With a gasp, Lena stepped away from Vor. Lesser but similar feelings had been rising in her since she had arrived at the fortress. They calmed and compelled her, but they'd never been this strong. This wasn't just an urge. It was a promise. A prediction, kin to her visions. Was this what Vor felt? Did he have visions like hers? If so, it wasn't surprising that he was so determined. But could she trust this external power? She'd had two visions, one in a dream, and both of them revolving around a blond man. One gave Lena joy, the other terrified her. Was one or both men Vor? Maybe neither. Maybe she didn't have the power of prophecy at all. So then, what was she feeling? Was her imagination reacting to her hidden desires?
