Resonance

  ***

  We all three woke up on gurneys in the lab in the TSA, Nick and Andrew hovering over us, looking worried. Of course, said Shep. They were watching.

  Right, they know exactly what went down.

  "Who were those guys?" I asked, as I sat up. I felt perfectly fine, not groggy or disoriented at all.

  "We don't know," answered Andrew.

  "But they were not detectives with the Lincoln Police Department," added Nick. "They turned up out of thin air just down the block. They're obviously from another world."

  "World A?" I asked. "Kirk A's world?"

  "We don't know," said Andrew again. "But it seems likely. They're obviously working with the McDowells."

  "Maybe they're the ones who took Jessica," said Angel.

  "No," objected Shep. "The second one, Detective Nero, he said, 'He'll be here soon.' He was probably referring to one of the Ys."

  "So we have to go back," I said. Yeah! said Shep.

  "But—" started Andrew. "Oh. You mean, implanted in the McDowells again."

  "It's the only way to see how it goes down, apparently," I said.

  "And where they take Jessica," added Shep. "Maybe we can figure out another time when we could get her away from them."

  "Now?" asked Nick.

  "Wait!" said Angel. "What about me?"

  Give Andrew credit. He didn't jump right in and say no. He waited a moment and then said, "It won't work, sweetie. Mitch and Shep will be inside the McDowells, in their heads, invisible. They'll be able to go with the McDowells wherever they go, into their TSA, another world, anywhere."

  "Put me in too!" said Angel.

  There was another pause, this time broken by Nick. "I'm not sure it would work," he said. "We've never tried to put two people into one. And I don't think we want a three-way link, you with Mitch and Shep, do you?"

  She thought for a moment. "Just with Mitch," she said. Holy wow! I thought. I mean, it was a pretty huge thing she was willing to do, letting me into her head.

  "That won't work if Mitch and Shep are linked," said Nick. "And they have to be linked."

  She opened her mouth to protest some more, then shut it again. "Okay," she said finally. "If you promise to let me in on the rest of it, not keep me in the dark. Let me come to the debriefings. Let me follow along in the tank."

  Nick glanced at Andrew and apparently got the go-ahead. "Of course," he said.