“Your father is still alive?” Andrew asked after several moments of stunned silence.

“Yes.” Donnovan glared at the table surface. “My people imprisoned him in a sort of eternal limbo. It’s an empty, cold shadow land. The place where banished people are sent.”

“What he do to deserve that?”

“He brought one of our enemies to us. Our tribe was unprepared for the attack that my father had orchestrated, and many of our people died. We fled, but not before we captured my father. Once we were free, our people gathered the last few elders living, and they banished him. I remember watching it. I was only ten at the time.” Donnovan sighed. “That was the year before we came here.”

“And you never forgave him.” Allayra murmured.

Donnovan shrugged. “Would you? He deserted my mother and caused the deaths of several people I cared very much about. I trusted him, and he destroyed me for it.”

“I see… But is there any way that we could talk to him?”

Donnovan nodded. “But the elders of my tribe have to grant permission.”

“Will they grant it if it means the salvation of this place and another’s life?”

“I believe they would. My people are dedicated to peace and harmony. They may seem dark because of their abilities, which you’ve seen manifested in both myself and my mother, but we’re not. The dark of night and the shadows are our friends, our living, but we have always wanted to live peacefully, left to ourselves.” He shrugged. “As long as we’re left alone, we are harmless enough. And we would never turn away someone in need.”

Andrew smiled. “I would love to meet more of your people. They sound like a welcoming group.”

“They were when I was with them. My tribe was one of the last left. Our kind is somewhat endangered due to the hatred of the tribe my father betrayed us to. They are relentless in their pursuit of our people.” Donnovan grimaced. “They think we are a danger to them because we can shift through the shadows and they can’t.”

“Where do your people live now?”

Donnovan cleared his throat. “As you know, we’re able to shift across dimensions. When we were attacked, that was how we escaped. The elders transported the remainder of our tribe to another dimension.”

“Can we reach that dimension?” Andrew asked. “Or is the gap still unbridged by a Gate?”

Donnovan rubbed his temples. “It’s not bridged. The place is a wild one, and the terrain is rough.”

“So you can get there. But can you take anyone else?” Allayra asked.

“I could take one, maybe two other people. And supplies, of course. But who would go? Who can we trust?”

Andrew sighed. “A good question. I’m needed here since you must go, and your brother has to remain in command on East Base for the time being.”

“Kane.” Allayra looked up at them and stopped tracing patterns on the metal table. “Kane could be trusted. We all know how much he cares about Ryder.”

Donnovan nodded. “He would be a good choice. He’ll be able to take care of the equipment if it backfires, and I know I can rely on him. But he doesn’t have much field experience.”

“He got my daughter out at the warehouse.” Andrew smiled. “He may not have much field experience, but he knows how to handle a gun, and he obeys orders well for the most part. He’ll be reliable, and he learns quickly.”

“True.” Donnovan rubbed his hands together. “I guess it’s settled. I’ll go get Kane from East Base and explain the situation to him. Then we’ll head out as soon as we can outfit ourselves. Andrew, you’re going to be in command until I return. Since you’re my second in command now anyway, no one should have a problem with it.”

Andrew stopped drumming his fingers and the table and leaned back. “Don’t rush things, Donnovan. I know that time is important, but if you rush, you’ll waste even more time trying to fix your mistakes.”

“Yes, sir. I understand. But I should leave now to go find Kane.” Donnovan stood up.

Andrew and Allayra also stood.

Allayra smiled at Donnovan and stepped forward to embrace him. “I’ll see you when you get back with Kane.”

Andrew shook hands with him when Allayra moved away. “You’ll find a way, Donnovan. Don’t worry.”

Taking a deep breath, Donnovan nodded. “Of course.” He stepped away from them both and with a short wave, he summoned the shadows to take him to East Base again.

***

Kane sighed as he rolled underneath the hub where the database rested. This stupid thing never seemed to work right, and he always had to do something to get it working again. It took up too much of his time, which should’ve been spent working on the security tapes and checking up on the computer base’s security. He went to grab a pair of needle nose pliers to fix a loose wire that seemed to be causing the problem. “I wish we would just buy something more advanced than this outdated mess.” Kane muttered irritably. “I’m sick of fixing it.”

“Unfortunately, we don’t have the funds to do that right now. Anyway, it still works efficiently enough, and other things are of larger priority. So whenever you have a moment, could you come out from under there and talk?” Donnovan materialized from the shadows and leaned down to peer at the mess of wires and circuit boards that Kane was messing with.

Kane started, banging his head against the panel above him. “Darn you, Donnovan! Don’t do that.” He pushed himself out from under the hub and glared at the other man.

Donnovan shrugged. “Sorry.”

“Sure you are.” Kane rubbed his forehead where a red mark had appeared from where he’d banged into one of the metal dividers.

“I am.” Donnovan insisted. “Anyway, I didn’t come to make small talk or to injure you. I wanted to ask you to help me with something.”

“With what? If it has anything to do with your brother, count me out.” Kane grumbled, rubbing his hands off on his pants.

“Why would it have anything to do with my brother?” Donnovan frowned.

“I just spoke with him, and he got mad at me because this piece of junk you call a motherboard backfired again.” Kane grumbled. “Told me to come fix it immediately and figure out how to get his files back.”

Donnovan laughed. “I see. Isn’t that your job?”

“Yes…” Kane rubbed the back of his neck.

“So why are you so upset about it?”

“Because your brother was extremely uncivil to me. I don’t know why he hates me so much, but he’s pretty much guaranteed that the feeling is mutual.” Kane muttered.

Donnovan nodded. “Are you two ever going to figure out what the problem is and fix it?”

“If he told me what it was, maybe.”

With a sigh, Donnovan sat down in the chair in front of the display and spun in a lazy circle. “My brother is my brother. Unfortunately, part of that package has always been secrecy. He won’t tell you if you don’t force it out of him. He doesn’t hold grudges much either, so you must have really done something to upset him.”

Kane twisted his opal ring on his finger, feeling a bit nervous. “Yeah? Like what?”

Donnovan shrugged. “No idea. Ans is probably the only one who does know.”

“Ideas?”

“You did something to Ryder or he thought you did something to me?” Donnovan stopped spinning the chair in circles and stared at Kane. “My brother’s very protective of both myself, Ryder, and Cassie. If you did anything major to slight any of us, he might well hold a grudge. I’m not saying he should, but he would.”

“Why would I do anything that terrible to any of you? I love Ryder, and Cassie’s like a little sister. You’re cool too…” Kane protested.

Donnovan perked up at that. “Wait, back up…”

“What?”

“You said that Cassie’s like a little sister to you, but you said you loved Ryder?” Donnovan leaned back in the chair and gave Kane a hard look.

Kane bit his lip and fidgeted with his ring. “Yeah? And?”

“How do you love Ryder?” Donnovan crossed his arms.

“Is that what this is about?” Kane blurted out. “You think that I’m trying to steal her from you?”

“Are you?” Donnovan leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “You said it, not me.”

Kane looked away. “I love her as more than a sister, or I did… But when I told her, she rejected me. So we’re just friends now.” He glared at Donnovan. “So you don’t need to beat me up or anything. I’ve already been sent off like a whipped puppy for saying anything.”

Donnovan laughed. “I’m not mad at you, Kane. Ry has a right to pick who she wants. If it’s not me, I respect that. But since it was, you’ll have to respect that choice as well.”

Kane nodded. “I do. She was my friend before I ever fell in love with her… I can respect her decision.”

“Good…” Donnovan spun in a circle once more, musing. “But maybe that’s why Ans has always hated you… He used to always tell me that he knew Ry and I would end up together. Said we were like two pieces of a puzzle that fit just right. The only obstacle in the way of that might’ve been you since I broke her heart and you stepped in. Maybe Ans has always felt that you viewed her as more than a sister, and because he knew how I felt about her, he disliked you for getting in the way.”

“Getting in the way?” Kane huffed. “I did nothing of the sort. You broke her heart, not me, and I stepped in to try to help pick up the pieces.”

Donnovan nodded. “I know, and she needed you to do that. But Ansgar may not view it that way. He’s fiercely devoted to me since I took a major role in caring for him after my mother disappeared. Anything he sees as a threat to me would be something he would want to be rid of or would at least dislike.”

Kane shook his head. “Whatever you say. What did you actually come for?”

“I came to tell you that I know a way we might be able to find out how to save Ryder. But it requires travel to another realm. A mission, if you will.”

“What do I have to do with this?”

“I want you to come with me.”

“Me? Come with you?” Kane stared at him. “But why me?”

“Because you’re able to be spared here, but also because your skills with machinery and computers will be invaluable to me where we’re going.” Donnovan stood up. “So are you coming or not?”

“On a rescue mission to save Ryder?” Kane smiled. “Yeah. Count me in.”