“I wish you would die again,” said Em-Lin, talking to the empty space to the right of Vance Hawkins’s head. “I wish you would die and stay dead this time.”

Vance got up from crouching in front of Em-Lin and rubbed the back of his neck. No matter what he said or did, he could not seem to get through to her. She was lost in the depths of the haunting vision that had completely superimposed itself over reality since the Dominion transmitter had kicked into high gear.

It figured. The only Miradorn he could stomach, a Miradorn who had earned his respect by single-handedly defusing a quantum bomb booby trap and saving many lives, and she was locked up tight in a world of her own with the ghost of her dead twin sister. He had listened to her talking to her sister, Or-Lin, long enough to know that it was not a pleasant world to inhabit.

Maybe it was time for him to stop trying to bring her out of it. If she had been any other Miradorn, in fact, he would not have tried as long as he had already. It wasn’t his job, anyway; Lense, not the deputy chief of security, was responsible for treating nonresponsive victims of trauma.

So why was he even now trying to think of a way to break through to Em-Lin?

She had proven herself to him by saving lives, but the truth was, she had worked for the Dominion. For all he knew, she could have contributed, directly or indirectly, to the prison camp operation on Jomej VII.

Still, he had a gut feeling that she deserved to be rescued from the private hell in which she was suffering. In addition, Vance hoped that her expertise with changeling technology might help to deactivate the Dominion transmitter and save the Miradorn on Zasharu.

He crouched down in front of her again. Maybe, he thought, it was time to try something more creative. If this didn’t work, he could always summon T’Mandra from patrolling the shrine above and ask her to try a Vulcan mind-meld as a last-ditch effort.

Vance activated his wrist beacon and aimed its beam directly into Em-Lin’s eyes. At first, Em-Lin continued to look off to one side, watching her invisible tormentor. Then, Vance moved the beacon into the space that she was watching, fixing it right on her eyes, and when he slid it away, her gaze followed it.

Before Em-Lin’s eyes could drift back to the empty space into which they had been staring, Vance spoke. This time, however, was different from all the other times when he had tried to reach her by talking.

For one thing, he was shouting in her face. For another thing, his words were not actually directed at Em-Lin.

“Or-Lin,” he said, holding the light from his beacon steady in Em-Lin’s eyes. “I need to talk to your sister. Please, let her talk to me.”

Em-Lin’s eyes flicked to one side, then back, then away again. She did not say a word.

“It’s an emergency,” said Vance. “Dominion devices are killing the people of New Mirada and Zasharu. I believe Em-Lin can help deactivate them.”

Em-Lin’s eyes returned to focus on the light from Vance’s beacon…then slid back to the empty space again. Her mouth opened, but still she said nothing.

“Please, Or-Lin,” said Vance. “Let her talk to me. I only want to save your people.”

“She’s here all the time now,” Em-Lin said suddenly, her eyes returning to the light. “Before, it was only some of the time.”

Vance switched off his wrist beacon.

“To me, she’s like a living, breathing person,” said Em-Lin. “I can see her, hear her, and touch her all at once. Not that that’s a good thing. We weren’t exactly getting along before she died, and our relationship hasn’t improved since then.”

“Thank you for letting your sister talk to me, Or-Lin,” said Vance.

“You both want the same thing,” said Em-Lin. “You want me to help repair the Dominion transmitter.”

“Can you do it?” said Vance. “You know your way around changeling technology better than any of us.”

“I can do some of it,” said Em-Lin, “but I’m not familiar with all the components. You’ll need someone else to do the rest.”

“Do you have someone in mind?” said Vance.

“Or-Lin,” said Em-Lin. “My dead twin sister says to tell you she’ll be happy to help.”