The woman flinched a little before adding, “We guard the Fields. Powered people go in. They don’t come out.”
“Like Home Field?”
Taryn’s whole demeanor stiffened at that question. She didn’t answer immediately. When she did, she seemed to choose her phrasing with extra care. “No, that’s different. You don’t want to know what happens at the Fields. They run tests.”
“What kind of tests?”
Taryn’s eyes shifted toward the front of the truck, where the three men argued over some trivial matter. She angled her head closer.
“They test fire abilities. Mind abilities too.”
Audrey felt the words slide coldly along her back.
“Like Nikos,” she murmured. “Like...me?”
“Yes.”
“So, with his fire...he should be in a Field?”
“Not everyone goes. But most do.”
A sense of deep unease rolled through her. Whatever the Fields were, they sounded like cages.
The truck rattled over stones, and they both braced themselves against the jostling.
“The Separatists are dangerous,” she added softly. “We can’t trust any of them.”
“No argument there.” Audrey rubbed her wrists. “Why do they hate Ezebethians?”
“Voíríans want Ezebethian Citizenship.”
Emerson had said the Aggregate public knew almost nothing about Voíríans and their plight. Clearly, the security officers stationed here knew more.
“I do my job, then I get to go home,” Taryn added.
“What’s home like?”
Taryn almost smiled. “One big beautiful city. Clean air. Green water. Quiet.”
“And the three moons? What are those?” she asked.
“We are here on one moon—Nepra. Nomac is the middle moon, home to the Ezbeths. And the third one—Naamia—is supposedly deserted.” A pause. “I shouldn’t be telling you these things.”
Audrey snorted. “Do I look like I’m in a position to compromise you?”
Taryn’s lips twitched. “Why are you here, asking me these questions? You are Voírían?”
“I wasn’t born here,” Audrey said.
Taryn blinked. “Then where were you born?”
“Earth. Level Zero.”
Taryn stared as if Audrey had just said she was made from the stars themselves. “What’s it like?”
A desperate homesick pang for Earth stabbed her. Ugly, beautiful Earth.
“Alive but ruined,” Audrey replied. “I didn’t think I’d miss it this much until I lost it.”
