"They were right," Sariana observed. "Windarra has been a very hospitable planet." "That may have been true of the eastern continent, but the west was a deathtrap. Almost every other

inhabitable planet in this sector was also a trap," Gryph informed her bluntly.

"What do you mean?"

"The main reason no one ever heard from the first wave of colonists was because most of them died in storms of light that consumed whole ships attempting to land on planets in the local star systems."

"There was a scene in the play yesterday," Sariana said softly, "a scene in which The Serendipity was nearly swallowed by such a storm."

Gryph nodded, wondering how to explain the rest of the tale. "The people on board my ancestors' colony ship were lucky. They escaped the storm that almost caught them when they attempted to land on the planet of their choice."

"Windarra?"

Gryph gave her a small smile. "No, not Windarra. A planet called Talis. It was located in a neighboring system." He saw the wonder in her eyes. He also saw the doubt. "It's true, Sariana. I swear it. My people have kept their own history all these years. We have not forgotten our origins."

"How did you come to Windarra?"

"We followed the trail of the crystal ships," he explained simply, then realized he had skipped over far too much. "I'll have to go back to the beginning. By pure luck my ancestors' ship escaped a hghtstorm that awaited it on Talis. It backed off and went, into a wide orbit around Talis' moon while the scientists and technologists on board tried to analyze what the storm was composed of and how to deal with the threat it represented." Gryph swallowed the last of his tea and set the mug down on the rock beside him.

"They eventually found the answer."

"What was that answer?"

He still couldn't tell how she was taking any of this. It irritated him. It also made him wary. But he had gone too far now. He might as well finish. He got to his feet and strolled to the water's edge and stood looking out across the canyon floor.

"I told you I was as human as you are. But I am also different, Sariana." "Tell me," she invited softly. '

"The weapbns that produce lightstorms are made of prisma crystal. The ships that contain the weapons are made of the same substance. My people named it prisma crystal because of its unique qualities. There is nothing else like it as for as we know. No one knows how, when or where it was created. But when we first arrived in this sector there were crystal ships full of weapons on nearly every planet. Some of the ships were huge. They were in orbit around the planets they protected. They reacted instantly to an alien ship attempting to land. It was those orbiting crystal ships that got most of the colonial star-ships."

"It was one of those orbiting ships that got The Serendip-ity?"

Gryph nodded. "And it was a side effect of a lightstonn that crippled The Rendezvous. Your people didn't get the full brunt of the explosion. The Serendipity did."

"But what about the Shields, Gryph? How did they happen to be here when The Serendipity arrived?"

Gryph reached down and scooped up a handful of pebbles. He sent two or three skipping across the placid river. This next part was going to be the hardest.

"My people were no slouches technologically. It didn't take them long to discover that the weapons that created the lightstorms could be controlled by certain men whose minds could be tuned chemically to the resonating frequencies of prisma crystal. The minds of those men could be made to function as shields against the energy the weapons produced. They could turn that energy back on itself and neutralize the prisma ships and their weapons. But not just any mind could be tuned. Only certain men had the potential. But to make a man into a Shield, the scientists first had to change him in certain ways. Permanent ways."

"I don't understand."

Gryph swung around to confront her. He knew he probably looked dangerous and aggressive and ready for battle in that moment. He couldn't help it. He was feeling exactly that way. This was the crunch. She had to accept what he told her next. If she didn't - He refused to let himself dwell on that. He wished he could read her mind right now. Truly read it.

"They injected men who showed a strong potential for tuning into prisma with a chemical that slightly altered their genes. The result is a man who has problems taking certain drugs because they disrupt his system. The result is a man who can't father a son unless he is fortunate enough to find a woman whose mind can resonate with his on at least a minimal level. He can't father daughters at all. The result is a man who can tune into prisma crystal and reverse its natural vibrations so that it jams and is rendered harmless."

"And you're one of those men."

"I'm one of them." He drew a deep, steadying breath. "The scientists and medics on board my ancestors' starship thought at first that the men they had altered genetically would be sterile. Obviously we aren't or there wouldn't be any of us left. But there aren't many women with whom we can mate."

"And you think I'm one of those women."

"You are. You're naturally empathic. You may be more than that. You may be slightly telepathic. I'm not sure and it doesn't matter. The important part is that your mind can link with mine on a fundamental level. Using the prisma I was able to tune you into my own mental vibrations. You proved the tuning had worked the morning you opened my weapon kit. Only another mind resonating on the same frequency as my own could have done it."

"I'm no telepath, Gryph. I've never had a telepathic experience in my life." He smiled faintly. "Until you met me. Our linking is beyond the normal parameters, Sariana."

She flushed. "If you're talking about what happens between us when we make love - "

"It isn't just that. The link between us becomes strong in times of stress, too. How do you think I found you the night you slipped out of the Avylyn villa? And how do you think I found you yesterday at the fair?" He watched her deal with that for a moment. "And how do you think you got what you wanted from me last night?" he concluded softly. "Whatever you were before I met you, you're more than empathic now that you've been linked to me through prisma. And you're very strong. You can project and you can receive not only emotions felt during passion or danger, but you seem to be able to project and receive actual images."

"No, I don't think I do. It's just that I have a vivid imagination," she protested weakly. He grinned in spite of himself. "That's a load of dragon-pony manure. Or maybe a vivid imagination is